Kyiv has branded suggestions that it surrender land to Russia for the sake of achieving peace as “ridiculous” and “absolutely unacceptable”.
It comes after a senior NATO official suggested that Ukraine may have to cede some land to Russia if it wants to end the war and join the Western military alliance.
Hitting back at the suggestion, a senior advisor to the country’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly dismissed the idea.
Trading territory for a NATO umbrella? It is ridiculous. That means deliberately choosing the defeat of democracy, encouraging a global criminal, preserving the Russian regime, destroying international law, and passing the war on to other generations. After all, why should Russia…
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) August 15, 2023
“Trading territory for a NATO umbrella? It is ridiculous,” Mykhailo Podolyak wrote online.
According to the official, handing over land to Russian President Vladimir Putin would represent “deliberately choosing the defeat of democracy” and only embolden Russia to take a more belligerent stand on the world stage.
“Obviously, if Putin does not suffer a crushing defeat, the political regime in Russia does not change, and war criminals are not punished, the war will definitely return with Russia’s appetite for more,” he said.
“Murderers should not be encouraged by appalling indulgences.”
Ukraine has recently been reeling from allegations of corruption among recruitment officers. https://t.co/E0mEULk3TB
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 11, 2023
The Ukrainian backlash comes after comments made by NATO Chief of Staff Stian Jenssen that the country needed to consider making sacrifices for the sake of peace.
“I think that a solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory and get NATO membership in return,” he said during a panel debate in Norway recently.
He added that the terms of any peace deal were ultimately up to Ukrainian officials to hash out, stating that it was “important” to discuss some of the hard choices that may have to be made.
“I’m not saying it has to be like this,” he added. “But that could be a possible solution.”
Russia has attempted to paint a media picture of a failing Ukrainian counteroffensive, with Moscow’s state-owned TASS news agency reporting officials as expecting some form of peace negotiations to begin soon.
“Signs may indicate that [Western powers] are thinking about achieving a truce by the end of the year,” one commentator in the country told the outlet, adding: “In what form, though, is still anyone’s guess. There are many options.”
Ukraine’s national anti-corruption agency has added spirit maker Bacardi Limited to its catalogue of “foreign supporters of the war” with Russia. https://t.co/wpH0uBluDi
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 11, 2023
