Western countries increasingly are discussing a plan according to which Ukraine would have to give up claims to some territories in exchange for joining the North Atlantic Alliance, the British newspaper Financial Times (FT) reported, citing its sources.
According to her information, Kiev's allies believe that "substantial security guarantees" can form the basis for conflict resolution. At the same time, the discussed plan assumes that Russia will retain control over the territories it owns. Ukraine, within the limits that will arise during the conclusion of the agreements, will receive the protection of the NATO countries according to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
A similar plan has been discussed in foreign policy circles for more than 18 months. The publication calls this model “West German“, because before the reunification of Germany, its western part was part of NATO, and the eastern part – from the Warsaw Pact Organization. However, the newspaper notes that the US is against it, fearing that Western countries will be drawn into the conflict.
On September 30, outgoing UN Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that a peace settlement in Ukraine should include conditions for security guarantees to Kiev from Western countries. According to him, Western countries, led by the USA, should provide Ukraine with such security guarantees that “the price of resuming the war is too high”. Stoltenberg also added that at the moment “there is no silver bullet” that can change the course of a special military operation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi met in Washington on September 26 with US leader Joe Biden, having previously said that he intends to discuss with him a certain plan to end the conflict, a “plan for victory”, as contains points that depend on the decisions of Washington. At the same time, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken limited himself only to the fact that the United States will study the plan proposed by Kiev.