Ukrainian president says NATO membership can end 'hot phase' of war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says being admitted into NATO could extremity what helium described arsenic the “hot signifier of the war” waged by Russia.

In an interrogation with Sky News aired connected November 29, Zelenskyy suggested that helium would beryllium consenting to see a ceasefire if Ukraine’s unoccupied territories fell nether NATO’s extortion and the invitation to articulation the confederation recognized Ukraine’s planetary borders.

Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula successful 2014 and has been occupying 20% of Ukrainian territory since launching its full-scale penetration successful February 2022.

"If we privation to halt the blistery signifier of the war, we request to instrumentality nether the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we person nether our control," Zelenskyy said, adding that the occupied eastbound parts of the state could past beryllium taken backmost "in a diplomatic way."

This comes arsenic U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the United States has poured into Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion.

Trump has besides said helium could extremity the warfare wrong 24 hours of retaking the White House, a connection that has been interpreted arsenic meaning that Ukraine would person to surrender territory that Russia present occupies.

Earlier this week, Trump named Keith Kellogg, a retired service lieutenant wide who has agelong served arsenic a apical advisor to Trump connected defence issues, arsenic his nominee to beryllium peculiar envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

Kellogg has advocated telling the Ukrainians that if they don't travel to the negotiating table, U.S. enactment would adust up, portion telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that if helium doesn't travel to the table, the United States would springiness the Ukrainians "everything they request to termination you successful the field."

For the past respective months, Russia has been battering Ukrainian cities with progressively dense drone, rocket and glide-bomb strikes, causing casualties and damaging vigor infrastructure arsenic the acold play settles in.

Earlier this month, a elder United Nations official, Rosemary DiCarlo, warned that Moscow's targeting of Ukraine's vigor infrastructure could marque this wintertime the "harshest since the commencement of the war" astir 3 years ago.

Ukraine has launched respective counterattacks since the medication of U.S. President Joe Biden, the apical overseas protagonist of Ukraine successful its conflict against Russia's invasion, and Kyiv's European allies authorized the usage of long-range missiles against targets wrong Russia.