Zelenskyy says NATO guarantees could end ‘hot phase’ of war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on NATO to offer guaranteed protections to the parts of Ukraine not occupied by Russia in order to “stop the hot phase of the war.”
In an interview with Sky News, Zelenskyy suggested that the parts of Ukraine under Kyiv’s control should be taken “under the NATO umbrella” in an arrangement that still endorses Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders. Kyiv could then negotiate the return of territory currently under Russian control “in a diplomatic way,” he said.
“If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we should quickly take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control,” Zelenskyy said in the interview published late Friday.
“That’s what we need to do first, and then Ukraine can get back the other parts of its territory in a diplomatic way,” the Ukrainian leader said.
Zelenskyy suggested that such an arrangement could be the basis for a cease-fire deal with Moscow. But he stressed that NATO membership needs to be offered to the whole of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.
“You can’t give [an] invitation to just one part of a country,” Zelenskyy said. “Why? Because [if you did that] you would recognize that Ukraine is only that territory of Ukraine, and the other one is Russia.”
The war in Ukraine, which is approaching the three-year mark, has escalated recently. Moscow earlier this week threatened to strike government buildings in Kyiv as it continued to launch massive aerial attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector, which the Kremlin said were in response to Kyiv’s use of advanced weapons provided by the U.S. and the U.K. against Russian territory.
Zelenskyy admitted that his suggestion is speculative. “Ukraine has never considered such a proposal, because no one has officially offered it to us,” he said. NATO has yet to comment on the suggestion.
There have been many proposals for stopping the fighting in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said, but without a mechanism to prevent Russia from attacking again, cease-fires were simply too dangerous. Only NATO membership, he said, could offer that kind of guarantee.
Separately, Zelenskyy announced shake-up in his military leadership, replacing the commander of the Kyiv’s land forces. Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi was tapped for the post, taking over from Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk, who had been at the helm of the land forces since February.
“The Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are the backbone of our army. And much depends on how effectively the structure of the Land Forces, as well as the entire Defense and Security Forces of Ukraine, functions,” Zelenskyy said in a statement. “Changes are needed — changes in personnel management that will ensure better results on the battlefield.”