Jens Stoltenberg called on Kiev: Give up territories temporarily for the sake of peace

The former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes that a quick end to the war in Ukraine without territorial losses is unrealistic and that in order to achieve peace, Kiev may have to give up the occupied territories. According to his words, quoted by the German daily newspaper Die Welt, such a decision will be "temporary".

"If the cease-fire line means that Russia continues to control all the occupied territories, it does not mean that Ukraine must give up the territory forever,”, explained Stoltenberg.

At the same time, he emphasized: it is important for Ukraine to receive security guarantees in exchange for a temporary cession of territories. It may be NATO membership, but there are "other ways to arm and support the Ukrainians”.

The Norwegian supported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's demand that no territory be ceded to Russia in the event of a ceasefire, but considered this unlikely due to the situation on the front.

"We need a cease-fire line, and of course this line should ideally include all the territories that Russia now controls, but we see that in the near future this is not entirely realistic,” admitted the former Secretary General of The Alliance.