The words of the chief of staff of the NATO General Secretariat, Stian Jenssen, that what suggested that Ukraine cede territories to Russia to facilitate its entry into the Atlantic Alliance, led to an avalanche of criticism from kyiv, which warned on Wednesday that any territorial relinquishment would embolden Moscow in the midst of the war.
The tension between Ukraine and NATO began after Jenssen, chief of staff to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, suggested that Ukraine could cede territory to Russia to facilitate its entry into NATO.
Jenssen made these statements in a debate during the Arendal week (southern Norway), a forum that brings together politicians, unions, the media and other civil associations every year.
“I think that a solution may be that Ukraine cede territory and receive in return its membership in NATO. I am not saying that it should be like this, but it is a possible solution,” Jenssen said, according to the VG newspaper.
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Jenssen stressed, however, that Ukraine should decide “when and under what conditions it wants to negotiate.” “There are essential movements in the question about a future NATO membership for Ukraine. It is in everyone’s interest that the war does not repeat itself,” he said.
According to VG, Jenssen stated that Russia “is suffering a lot from a military point of view” and it seems “unrealistic” that it could gain more territory, so the question is “what can Ukraine get back”.
But the suggestion produced immediate rejection in Ukraine. Oleg Nikolaenko, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, stated that “Talking about Ukraine joining NATO in exchange for ceding part of the Ukrainian territories is absolutely unacceptable.”
According to Nikolaenko, for NATO officials to “participate in a narrative” for Ukraine to give up its territories is “playing into Russia’s hands.”
In the interest of Euro-Atlantic security, added the ministerial spokesperson, ways to speed up Ukraine’s victory should be addressed and its recognition as a candidate for admission as a full member of NATO.
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It is up to Ukraine to decide when and on what terms to achieve peace
Amid the commotion caused by Jenssen’s words, the Atlantic Alliance headquarters highlighted this Wednesday that “NATO’s position is clear and has not changed: we fully support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Sources from Brussels told Efe.
“We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as necessary,” added that source, who recalled that this is the position expressed by the allied leaders at the Vilnius summit last July. “It is up to Ukraine to decide when and on what terms to achieve peace,” a spokesman stressed.
In an interview with a Norwegian media, Jenssen acknowledged that his comment “was a mistake” and that he “shouldn’t have said it that way.”
Before these details from Brussels, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, had already dismissed Jenssen’s statement as “strange”. “It is not at all clear why it was done,” he said live on Ukrainian television.
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⚡️The head of the #BORN Secretary-General’s Office, Stian Jenssen, has described as a “mistake” statements that Ukraine might join the Alliance in exchange for territorial concessions to Russia, European Pravda reported. pic.twitter.com/cG3PfZjZR4
—KyivPost (@KyivPost) August 16, 2023
For his part, the head of the parliamentary faction of the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, David Arakhamia, stressed on Telegram that such discussions only encourage Russian aggression.
Giving up territory not only would not mean the end of the war, he assured, but would guarantee the appearance of “new conflicts in different parts of the globe.”
For Arakhamia, Moscow’s first reactions show that Russia likes an idea that “legitimizes wars of aggression and undermines international law”, which leads to the “defeat of democracy and the triumph of totalitarian regimes”.
The head of the president’s parliamentary group was alluding to a tweet by former Russian president Dmitri Medvedev, in which he described Jenssen’s suggestion as an “interesting idea.”
kyiv’s reactions also reflect the mood of the majority of Ukrainians, which has remained stable throughout the Russian invasion, according to successive surveys. A July survey by the Ilya Kucheriv Foundation for Democratic Initiatives, in collaboration with the Center for Political Sociology, indicated that 87% of Ukrainians rule out any territorial concession to Russia in exchange for peace.
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This view is consistent in various parts of Ukraine, including those with a higher proportion of the population of Russian or Russian-speaking origin.
Olena Semeniak, a 29-year-old citizen of Odessa whose fiancé serves in the Army, can barely contain herself: “When I hear such statements about concessions of our territory for the sake of joining anywhere, it hits me emotionally. The question immediately arises: is it Why do we need that membership if the Alliance is so afraid of Moscow?”
NATO should not reward the aggressor with the idea that Ukraine “accepts the permanent loss of its sovereign territory in exchange for an eventual promise of membership,” military analyst Mykola Bielieskov tweeted.
*With Efe
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