Ukraine’s Zelensky abandons NATO ambition as Berlin peace talks begin

• Instead, Zelensky is seeking Western security guarantees.
• The president of Ukraine meets with Trump’s envoy, Steve Vitkoff.
• European leaders will travel to Germany for talks on Monday.
  

Ukraine has given up its goal of joining the NATO military alliance in exchange for Western security guarantees as a compromise to end the war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday as peace talks began in Berlin.

Zelensky issued the concession as he flew to the German capital, where he began meetings with US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner in efforts to end Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

The move marks a major shift for Ukraine, which has fought to join NATO as a safeguard against Russian aggression and has such an ambition enshrined in its constitution. It also satisfies one of Russia’s war aims, although Kiev has so far distanced itself from ceding territory to Moscow.

Zelensky met the US envoys in talks hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who a source said had made brief remarks before leaving the two sides for negotiations. Other European leaders are also due to visit Germany for talks on Monday.

Security guarantees from the United States, Europe and other partners in lieu of NATO membership represented a compromise on Ukraine’s part, Zelensky said before Sunday’s talks.

“From the beginning, Ukraine’s desire was to join NATO, these are real security guarantees. Some partners from the US and Europe did not support this direction,” he said in response to reporters’ questions in a WhatsApp chat.

“So today, bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the US, Article 5 guarantees for us from the US and security guarantees from European colleagues, as well as other countries – Canada, Japan – are an opportunity to prevent another Russian invasion,” Zelensky said.

“And it’s already a compromise on our part,” he said, adding that security guarantees must be legally binding.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly called on Ukraine to formally renounce its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from the roughly 10 percent of Donbas that Kiev still controls. Moscow also said that Ukraine must be a neutral country and that no NATO troops can be stationed in Ukraine.

Russian sources said earlier this year that Putin wants a “written” commitment from major Western powers not to expand the US-led NATO alliance eastward – shorthand for formally barring Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and other former Soviet republics from joining.

Zelensky had earlier called for a “dignified” peace and guarantees that Russia would not attack Ukraine again.

Under pressure from Trump to sign a peace deal that initially backed Moscow’s demands, Zelensky accused Russia of slowing down the war through deadly bombing of cities and supplying Ukraine with energy and water.

The mission of Witkoff, who led negotiations with Ukraine and Russia on a US peace proposal, appeared to be a signal that Washington saw a chance for progress nearly four years after Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Zelensky said that Ukraine, the Europeans and the US are considering a 20-point plan and that at the end of that there is a ceasefire. He said that Kiev does not hold direct talks with Russia.

A ceasefire along the current front line would be a fair option, he added.

“critical moment”

Britain, France and Germany are working to improve the US proposals, which in a draft unveiled last month called on Kiev to cede more territory, abandon its NATO ambitions and accept limits on its armed forces.

European allies have described the moment as a “critical moment” that could shape Ukraine’s future and have sought to shore up Kiev’s finances by tapping frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank to fund Kiev’s military and political budgets.

Putin hosted Vitkov and Kushner for a meeting earlier in December, which the Kremlin praised as “constructive”, although no major breakthroughs were made.

Zelensky said hundreds of thousands were still without power after Russian raids on power, heating and water supplies across Ukraine,

“Russia is dragging out the war and seeking to cause as much harm as possible to our people,” he said.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has sent relations with the West plummeting and prompted warnings from NATO and European leaders that Putin will not stop there.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in a speech in Berlin on Thursday that NATO should be “prepared for the scale of war that our grandparents or great-grandparents endured” and argued that “we are Russia’s next target.”

The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected such claims.

“This looks like a statement by a representative of a generation that has managed to forget what World War II was really like,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television reporter Pavel Zarubin on Sunday.

“They have no understanding and unfortunately, Mr. Rutte, making such irresponsible statements, simply does not understand what he is talking about,” Peskov added.