Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested a ceasefire deal could be struck if Ukrainian territory he controls could be taken “under the NATO umbrella” – allowing him to negotiate the return of the rest later “in a diplomatic way”.
In an interview with Sky News’s chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay, the Ukrainian president was asked to respond to media reports saying one of US president-elect Donald Trump’s plans to end the war might be for Kyiv to cede the land Moscow has taken to Russia in exchange for Ukraine joining NATO.
Mr Zelenskyy said NATO membership would have to be offered to unoccupied parts of the country in order to end the “hot phase of the war”, as long as the NATO invitation itself recognises Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders.
He appeared to accept occupied eastern parts of the country would fall outside of such a deal for the time being.
Mr Zelenskyy with Sky’s Stuart Ramsay
“If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control,” he said.
“We need to do it fast. And then on the [occupied] territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way.”
Mr Zelenskyy said a ceasefire was needed to “guarantee that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will not come back” to take more Ukrainian territory.
He said NATO should “immediately” cover the part of Ukraine that remains under Kyiv’s control, something he said Ukraine needs “very much otherwise he will come back”.
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Ukrainian servicemen during military drills. Pic: Reuters
‘We have to work with the new president’
In his first interview with British media since Mr Trump’s election win, Mr Zelenskyy was asked what he thought of the president-elect and said “we have to work with the new president” in order to “have the biggest supporter”.
“I want to work with him directly because there are different voices from people around him. And that’s why we need not to [allow] anybody around to destroy our communication,” he said.
“It will be not helpful and will be destructive. We have to try to find the new model. I want to share with him ideas and I want to hear from him.”
Asked if he had spoken to Mr Trump, Mr Zelenskyy said the pair had spoken in September when he was in New York, adding: “We had a conversation. It was very warm, good, constructive… It was a very good meeting and it was an important first step – now we have to prepare some meetings.”
Russian servicemen during combat training
A Russian serviceman aims a howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in the Kursk border region of Russia. Pics: Russian Defence Ministry/AP
The interview is the first time Mr Zelenskyy has hinted at a ceasefire deal that would include Russian control of Ukrainian territory.
Throughout the conflict, Mr Zelenskyy has never said he would cede any occupied Ukrainian territory to Russia – including Crimea, which Russia occupied in February 2014 and formally annexed the following month.
A destroyed tank in Russian-occupied Ukraine. Pic: Reuters
He said such a move is not allowed under the Ukrainian constitution and the only way it would be possible is if people in those areas agree to secede.
The furthest he has gone previously was during an interview with Le Monde in July this year, when he suggested the territories could join Russia if they voted to in a free and fair referendum.
But he said Kyiv would have to have the territory back under its control in order to hold such a vote.
Ukrainian servicemen examine a Russian cruise missile shot down in Kyiv. Pic: Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP
Around a fifth of Ukrainian territory remains under Russian control.
In September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of areas in and around the Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia following referendums that were not internationally recognised.
Mr Zelenskyy’s long-held position is that the territory remains Ukrainian, that Russia’s occupation of the land is unlawful and that Kyiv will not cede any of its territory in order to strike a peace deal.
Earlier this year he presented a “victory plan” to the Ukrainian parliament which included a refusal to cede Ukrainian territory and sovereignty.
However, Moscow has suggested it will not give up any of the land its forces occupy in any peace deal and argued Kyiv ceding its territory is a precursor for it to come to the negotiating table.
Despite Ukraine’s staunch defence of its territory and attempted counter-attacks since the war began more than 1,000 days ago, Kyiv’s forces have been on the back foot in recent months and Russia has slowly made gains in the east of the country.