Jens Stoltenberg had this Thursday to reiterate NATO’s support for Ukraine after the commotion caused by the statements of a close collaborator, who this week raised a possible handover of territories to Russia in exchange for joining NATO, and then had to retract . The Secretary General of the Alliance stressed yesterday that the Western military coalition continues to defend the territorial integrity of the country and that it will continue to give it military support.
During a debate at a political forum in Arendal, Norway, Stian Jenssen, Stoltenberg’s chief of staff, hinted on Tuesday that a possible solution to the conflict was for Ukraine to “cede” territory in exchange for NATO membership.
Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, called Jenssen’s suggestion “unacceptable” because he supported “the narrative of territorial cession” that “endorses Russia’s positions”. Jenssen rectified a day later and acknowledged having made a “mistake”.
In his remarks yesterday, Stoltenberg also seems to want to stress that the allies will not try to influence Ukraine’s decisions on the battlefield, or when to sit down and talk to Moscow. “It is Ukraine and only Ukraine that can decide when the conditions for a negotiation are in place and that can decide at a negotiating table what is an acceptable solution. Our task is to support them,” said Stoltenberg, also in Arenda.
According to Stoltenberg, only NATO’s military support for the government of the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, can lead to achieving a “lasting and just” peace.
At its summit last July, NATO backed Ukraine saying it had every right to choose its own path independent of Russia, but postponed an invitation to join the Military Alliance until “when members agree and conditions are in place.” suitable. Zelensky was pleased with the results of the summit, but noted that the ideal for Kyiv would have been an immediate invitation.
Because of Jenssen’s controversial statement, it could also be interpreted that the allies are rushing Ukraine so that the conflict comes to an end, either through arms or by negotiating. But many indicators indicate that this conflict is going to continue.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dimitró Kuleba, added others to these signals yesterday. In an interview with the Afp news agency, he assured that Ukraine’s goal is to recover all of its territory “no matter how long that takes.”
He acknowledged that the counteroffensive that began in June is going slowly. But he asserted that his Western allies are not exerting pressure to speed up his military action. “We are not feeling it. There is an increase in the voices of commentators and experts on the public scene, but all of that will disappear (…) after Ukraine’s first resounding victory in the south or east of the country, ”he opined.
Ukraine wants to recover the territory occupied by Russian troops in the military intervention ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022. But also the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014. “Our goal is victory in form of liberation of our territories up to the 1991 borders,” Kuleba said, referring to the year the USSR dissolved and gave rise to 15 new independent countries, including Ukraine.
The minister acknowledged that his country is “paying the highest price” in this conflict. “But as long as the Ukrainian people believe that Ukraine is capable of defeating and achieving its goals by military means, the fight will continue,” he declared.
