Zelensky Relies on NATO “Guarantees” to End the War

2nd December 2024

2 minutes read

Zelensky Relies on NATO "Guarantees" to End the War

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on NATO on Friday to provide security guarantees for Ukrainian territories controlled by Kiev in order to “end the hot phase of the war.”

Zelensky also hinted that he would be willing to wait to regain nearly one-fifth of his country, occupied by the Russian army, if such an agreement could provide security for the rest of Ukraine and bring an end to the fighting.

These remarks come amid rising tensions in a war that has been ongoing for nearly three years.

Russia threatened this week to strike government buildings in Kiev and launched a massive aerial attack on Ukraine’s energy sector, calling it a response to the Ukrainian missile strikes, supplied by the U.S. and the U.K., on Russian soil.

Zelensky said: “If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we must place under NATO‘s umbrella the territories of Ukraine that we control.”

He added: “This is what we need to do quickly, and then Ukraine can diplomatically regain the rest of its territory.”

Trump’s Influence

Discussions about a potential ceasefire or peace agreement have intensified since Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections earlier this month.

Trump criticized U.S. aid to Kiev, claiming that he could end the conflict in hours, without specifying how.

Zelensky said in English: “If we are talking about a ceasefire, we need guarantees that Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t come back and attack the country.”

Russia controls about 18% of internationally recognized Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Russia also annexed the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions in Ukraine, though it does not fully control them.

Kiev has so far ruled out ceding land for peace, while Putin demands the Ukrainian military withdraw from more territory and rejects Ukraine’s accession to NATO.

Earlier, Putin called on Kiev to abandon its NATO aspirations if it wanted to reach a peace agreement.

A Series of Talks

As the fighting intensifies on the ground, Zelensky has had a series of phone calls with Western leaders in recent days, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart on Friday to update him on the “U.S. objectives” for ensuring “sustained support for Ukraine,” according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

The administration of outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden has increased its support for Kiev since Trump’s victory in the elections, sending more weapons and granting Ukraine permission to launch long-range missiles on Russian territory.

This move has sparked a furious reaction in Moscow, where Putin said on Thursday that Moscow could strike the Ukrainian capital with its new hypersonic missile “Ourychnik” after Russian strikes targeted Ukraine’s power grid, causing power outages for one million people.