Russian President Vladimir Putin said reaching consensus on security guarantees for Ukraine was possible, even as he reiterated Moscow would never accept Kyiv’s accession into NATO.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said security guarantees for his country, including a “NATO-like” form of support that allies could provide, have to be a part of any settlement to Russia’s invasion, now in its fourth year. Ukraine and its partners have intensified work on the details of what they can provide to ensure that any agreement reached with Putin can hold.
Russia has insisted it should be part of any post-war security architecture, a proposal Kyiv rejects.
“There are options for ensuring Ukraine’s security if the conflict ends,” Putin said Tuesday in Beijing during a meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. “It seems to me that there is an opportunity to find a consensus here,” adding that the topic came up in discussions with US President Donald Trump when the two leaders met in Alaska.
Putin said Russia didn’t object to Ukraine’s potential membership in the European Union, but joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would be “unacceptable for us,” even in the long term.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said a strong Ukrainian military backed by external assurances would be necessary to protect the country.
“For peace to last, Ukraine needs not only its own strong armed forces,” but also security guarantees from Kyiv’s partners, Rutte told reporters Tuesday in Luxembourg. “The US, Europe and others are defining them now. As you know we are sitting together in many formats.”
