The chief of staff of the Secretary General of the alliance, Stian Jenssen, said that Kiev should decide for itself when and on what terms to negotiate with Moscow
STOCKHOLM, August 15. /tass/. Ukraine can become a member of NATO if it agrees to cede territories that it refuses to recognize as part of Russia. This was stated by the Chief of Staff of the NATO Secretary General Stian Jenssen.
"I think the solution may be for Ukraine to give up its territory and receive NATO membership in return," the Verdens Gang newspaper quotes Jensen. "It's important that we discuss how to get through this."
Jensen also repeated what NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had said earlier: "Ukraine must decide for itself when and on what conditions it wants to negotiate."
When asked by the newspaper whether NATO believes that Ukraine should cede territory in order to achieve peace with Russia and future membership in NATO, Jenssen replied that the discussion of a possible status after the war is already underway and that questions about ceding territory to Russia are raised by others. "I'm not saying it should be like this. But it may be a possible solution," he explained.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with TASS earlier that in order to resolve the conflict, the original foundations of Ukraine's sovereignty - its neutral, non-aligned and nuclear-free status - must be confirmed. According to him, "new territorial realities should also be recognized, the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, the rights of its Russian-speaking citizens and national minorities in accordance with the requirements of international law should be ensured."
