NATO chief Stoltenberg rules out land-for-peace deal with Ukraine – POLITICO

This would amount to a capitulation of Ukraine, which Kyiv, however, rejects.

“There will be no compromises on independence or territorial integrity,” replied Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office.

Stoltenberg referred to Moscow’s previous behavior to justify the impossibility of Kyiv agreeing to the peace terms formulated by the Trump camp.

“We have observed a pattern of aggressive behavior by Russia towards Ukraine. The war did not begin in 2022, but in 2014, when Russia first illegally annexed Crimea, then a few months later invaded eastern Donbass, agreed to a ceasefire – Minsk 1 – violated it, advanced even further west, agreed Minsk 2, waited seven years and then launched a major attack and suffered even more,” Stoltenberg said.

“What we need now is actually something credible that will end the war and make Russia stop its aggression. When the fighting ends, we need security. We need to give the Ukrainians the ability to deter, but we also need some kind of security guarantee for Ukraine,” he added.

In an interview with the German news agency dpa, Stoltenberg, who is due to step down in October, expressed his hope that Ukraine would join the alliance within the next decade. “I very much hope that Ukraine will be an ally,” he said.

Ukraine’s NATO membership will be an issue during next week’s NATO summit in Washington, with allies still debating Kyiv’s demand for an “irreversible” membership offer.

This article has been updated.