Ukraine offers to drop Nato membership demands

[In It to Win It]

FT - Gift Link

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is ready to give up on demands for Nato membership in exchange for security guarantees from the US and Europe, in a move aimed at advancing peace talks in Berlin on Sunday. 

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner have pushed Ukraine to accept painful concessions, including ceding frontline territory to Russia, ahead of talks with Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s European allies on the White House plan to end Russia’s invasion.

Ukraine has admitted that it was unlikely to join Nato in the foreseeable future due to strong opposition from Russia, which has long demanded that the transatlantic alliance pledge to halt its eastward expansion as a condition for ending the war.

But Zelenskyy told reporters on Sunday that Ukraine still requires security guarantees from the US and Europe, similar to Nato’s Article 5 clause of mutual protection for any member under attack.

Ukraine offers to drop Nato membership demands on.ft.com/48Ak1H4

— Financial Times (@financialtimes.com) 2025-12-14T11:22:47.615547Z

[Irish_Dem]

1. The protection guarantees are worthless.

We have seen this movie before.

[Mister Ed]

3. Yes. When the USSR dissolved, Ukraine gave up its nukes in exchange for such protection guarantees...

...from the US, the UK, and Russia.

Ukraine must surely rue the day that it agreed to depend on Russian promises for its national security.

[Irish_Dem]

4. Zelensky must feel backed into a corner to make such a worthless agreement.

[Mister Ed]

6. Yes. His most powerful "ally", the US, is led by his enemy's servant.

That leaves Zelensky with a very, very difficult hand to play indeed.

[Tommy Carcetti]

2. Ukraine shouldn't have to do this.

It’s its own country and should be able to aspire to join whatever alliances it sees fit.

Russia has absolutely no say on whatever Ukraine might want.

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. Ukraine was never going to get the unanimous support required from all NATO nations for admission

Hungary, Turkey and the US all would have blocked them.

AFAIK, no such requirement exists for admission to the EU, and The Ukriane-supporting nations can simply form a “baby NATO” with the same defense agreements- they may need to anyway if the US completely bails and withdraws all troops by 2027 as the latest National Security Strategy has announced.