Volodymyr Zelenskyy ’ready to end Ukraine war’ in exchange for NATO membership
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he is prepared to end the war in Ukraine in exchange for Nato membership.
President Zelenskyy said that such a proposal had "never been considered" because it had never "officially" been offered.
He said membership would have to be offered to unoccupied parts of Ukraine to end the "hot phase of the war".
He appeared to accept that occupied eastern parts of the country would not be included in the deal.
Any invitation should be given "within its internationally recognised border, you can’t give invitation to just one part of a country", Mr Zelenskyy said.
"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 told Sky.
"We need to do it fast. And then on the [occupied] territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way."
He said a ceasefire was necessary to "guarantee that Putin will not come back" and attempt to take more of Ukraine’s territory.
Nato should "immediately" cover the parts of Ukraine that remain under Kyiv’s control, he said. He warned that Putin would otherwise return.
Last month, Mr Zelenskyy revealed he had a victory plan which could bring peace next year.
It contained a step that some crucial western allies have so far refused to countenance: inviting Ukraine to join Nato before the war ends.
His latest remarks come in the same week that Russian drone and missile attacks have hit civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, leaving more than a million people without heat and power in freezing temperatures.
British PM Keir Starmer discussed the attacks with Mr Zelenskyy in a call on Thursday.
Downing Street said the leaders "discussed the egregious Russian missile strike in the early hours of this morning, which had deprived more than a million people of heat, light and electricity".
The Prime Minister described the "systemic attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector" as "depraved", No 10 said.
Following reports that a fresh consignment of Storm Shadow missiles have been sent to Kyiv, Mr Zelenskyy said in his call with Sir Keir "we discussed advancing our defence cooperation and strengthening Ukraine’s long-range capabilities".
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