Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the media before a European Council summit in Brussels, Belgium, June 27, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

In a significant shift of stance on a potential ceasefire after 33 months of conflict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated for the first time that Kiev could accept Russian control over some of its territories in exchange for its membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Ukraine's new posture is widely seen as a response to Donald Trump's victory in the latest U.S. presidential election, while its aspiration to join NATO has further dimmed as the differences between Zelensky's peace plan and Trump's policy remain substantial.

Major concession

In an interview with Sky News, Zelensky responded to a question about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's suggestion that Ukraine cede Russian-occupied land to join NATO, saying that Ukraine must bring unoccupied territories under NATO protection first and pursue the return of occupied lands diplomatically.

"If we want to stop the intense phase of the war, we need to bring the unoccupied territories of Ukraine under the NATO umbrella," Zelensky said. "We need to act as soon as possible, and then we can diplomatically get the occupied lands back."

According to the text of a letter seen by Reuters on Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has also urged his NATO counterparts to send an invitation to Kiev at a meeting in Brussels next week to join the Western military alliance.

"The invitation should not be seen as an escalation," Sybiha wrote in the letter. "On the contrary, with a clear understanding that Ukraine's membership in NATO is inevitable, Russia will lose one of its main arguments for continuing this unjustified war."

Ukraine says it accepts that it cannot join the alliance until the war is over, but extending an invitation now would show Russian President Vladimir Putin that he could not achieve one of his main goals -- preventing Kiev from becoming a NATO member, said a Reuters report.

Despite the change of stance, the Russian side seems to have a very low-profile response toward Zelensky's statement as the Kremlin has so far been silent on his remarks. Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma, however, called on Ukrainian politicians to abandon their ambition to join NATO.

Moscow will no longer allow Western countries to "arm Kiev under the guise of an agreement," he said on his Telegram channel. "Kiev is seeking to join NATO, this is the key to moving forward, not the end of the war. The idea of freezing the conflict is also unacceptable."

Trump factor

"He (Zelensky) knows that Trump is about to descend on him and on Russia. He is already arranging to have something to offer," Tony Brenton, former British ambassador to Russia, told the Independent, praising Zelensky for "playing a very sophisticated game."

Despite the promise Trump has made to end the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in "24 hours," he has hardly elaborated on that plan. But by appointing Keith Kellogg, a former national security advisor and retired lieutenant general in the U.S. military, as his special envoy to Ukraine, one can get a glimpse of it.

In April, Kellogg co-authored a plan called "America First: Russia & Ukraine," which would freeze the front lines in Ukraine and pressure both Kiev and Moscow to come to the negotiating table.

In the plan, released by the America First Policy Institute, Kellogg noted that "To this day, America lacks a defense treaty with Ukraine and it is not a NATO ally. Intervening in the war in Ukraine lacked a clear, vital U.S. national interest."

The United States would continue to arm Ukraine and strengthen its defenses to ensure Russia would make no further advances and would not attack again after a ceasefire or peace agreement, he said, adding that future American military aid will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia.

To convince Russia to join peace talks, NATO leaders should offer to hold off on Ukraine's NATO membership application. Additionally, Russia could be offered some sanctions relief, on the condition that it signs a peace agreement with Ukraine, he added.

The differences between Zelensky's peace plan and Trump's policy are still substantial, but by engaging with the idea of a ceasefire and painful territorial sacrifices, the Ukrainian leader is doing his utmost to sound constructive, said a BBC report.

Shaky prospect

Ukraine has been on a declared path towards NATO membership since the 2008 Bucharest Summit, where NATO allies agreed that Ukraine would eventually join the alliance. But it has not issued a formal invitation or set out a timeline.

At their 2024 Washington Summit, NATO members reaffirmed that they would continue to support "its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership" and that they would be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when "members agree and conditions are met."

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's deputy prime minister in charge of NATO affairs, said Kiev understood that the consensus for an invitation to join NATO "is not yet there" but the letter was meant to send a strong political signal.

"We have sent a message to the allies that an invitation is not off of the table, regardless of different manipulations and speculations around that," she told Reuters.

Ukraine's accession to the alliance largely depends on the approval of the United States, but as Trump is set to take office in less than two months, that possibility has further dimmed.

It made no sense even to allude to supporting eventual NATO membership for Ukraine, as this would require a unanimous vote of NATO members, which at the time was highly unlikely, Kellogg said in his plan.

Ukraine also needed to meet stiff membership requirements, including democratic and military reforms that included aligning the Ukrainian military with NATO equipment, he said.

"Ukraine retains its independent sovereignty, Russia gets the guarantee of neutrality from Ukraine -- it doesn't join NATO, it doesn't join some of these allied institutions. That is what the deal is ultimately going to look something like," U.S. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has said.

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