Zelenskyy announced Ukraine’s readiness to abandon its plans to join NATO.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of NATO is seen at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in the NATO defence ministers' session together with Sweden as the invitee, at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 15, 2024. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo
During preliminary consultations with US authorities, Ukraine agreed to a compromise on its prospects for joining NATO as part of discussions of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this on Sunday, December 14, 2025, while en route to Berlin, where he plans to meet with US presidential envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, as well as with European leaders. The head of state spoke with Ukrainian journalists via WhatsApp chat on board the plane.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s strategic goal remains NATO membership as the most reliable guarantee of security, but this has not received support from some partners in the United States and Europe.
“Ukraine aspires to NATO membership. This would provide real security guarantees. But some partners in the US and Europe have not supported this approach. Therefore, bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the US – namely, Article 5 of NATO guarantees from the US for us – and security guarantees from our European colleagues and other countries – offer a way to protect against further Russian aggression,” the president noted.
He emphasized that this position is a compromise on Ukraine’s part in the current negotiations on the future security system.
As a reminder, the administration of US President Donald Trump is prepared to provide Ukraine with security guarantees based on the principles of NATO’s Article 5, which will be legally binding.
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