Ukraine abandons goal of joining NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees

On the eve of a meeting with U.S. envoys in Berlin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had given up its goal of joining NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees as a compromise to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The move marks a major shift in Ukraine's stance.

Zelensky said on Sunday that replacing NATO membership with security guarantees provided by the United States, Europe and other partners was a compromise on Ukraine's part.

"From the beginning, Ukraine's desire has been to join NATO, which is a real security guarantee. But the United States and some partners in Europe do not support this direction," he said in a WhatsApp chat in response to a reporter's question.

"So now we have the bilateral security guarantees that Ukraine has reached with the United States, the quasi 'Article 5' guarantees that the United States provides us, the security guarantees of European partners and other countries such as Canada and Japan," Zelensky said. "That in itself was a compromise that we made,"

he added, stressing that these security guarantees should be legally binding.