A NATO official who sparked a backlash from Kyiv for suggesting Ukraine could cede territory to Russia in exchange for NATO membership appeared to walk back his comments on Wednesday.
“My statement about this was part of a larger discussion about possible future scenarios in Ukraine, and I shouldn’t have said it that way. It was a mistake,” Stian Jenssen, chief of staff for NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, told the Norwegian newspaper VG. “It is completely Ukraine’s independent right to decide.”
A day earlier, Jenssen said: “I think that a solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory, and get NATO membership in return.” The comments were significant since the US and NATO have maintained throughout the war that they back Ukraine’s demands for peace, which includes a full Russian withdrawal before negotiations can happen.
Ukrainian officials called Jenssen’s suggestion “ridiculous” and reaffirmed their position that peace can only happen if Russia is fully defeated, which seems unlikely amid the faltering Ukrainian counteroffensive. Western officials speaking to the media insisted NATO supports Ukraine’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that the alliance is willing to support an open-ended conflict.
“We fully support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as NATO leaders reaffirmed at the Vilnius Summit in July,” a NATO source speaking to the Ukrainian outlet European Pravda said. “We will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary, and we are committed to achieving a just and lasting peace.”
Russian officials responded to the suggestion by reiterating their position that one of their main demands for a settlement is Ukrainian neutrality, as a primary motive for the invasion was Ukraine’s alignment with NATO. On top of that demand, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said it’s also necessary to “recognize the new territorial realities, ensure Ukraine’s demilitarization and denazification, the rights of its Russian-speaking citizens and national minorities in line with international law.”
Folks are heading for the door, but finding it still guarded.
The question is how many more Ukrainians are going to die before Washington throws the Ukrainians under the bus and calls for a cease fire ?.
What makes you think the Rich Men North of Richmond are going to stop with “the last” Ukrainian body if it drops before the election?
Yep. There are plenty of cannon meat in newly occupied countries west of Ukraine and when they are all gone, they will use French and Germans.
“newly occupied countries west of Ukraine” ??
You know, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria. Wherever North American Terrorist Occupation has expanded in the last 20 years. These territories are completely expendable in terms of population. The imperials simply don’t need the population to exist. Especially male population.
“Shouldn’t have said it that way”
is walk back of style not substance.
Nothing has changed.
Oops, the toxic trio of Sullivan, Blinken, and Nuland will send this dude out behind the woodshed. They have no negotiation talking points because they never negotiate, just double down and push the USA into an impossible position which was their intent all along.
There are websites which report that terrible things happen to the Russian army. Then there is Antiwar which reports almost the opposite.
I go by the history of the Battle of Kursk of WW2 which tells me that in the current offensive the Ukrainian army may have had some local advances but has not reached Kursk. It has not even reached Prokorovska.
The entire Western MSM reports a steady stream of MIC propaganda and outright lies but propaganda does not win wars. Wars are won in the Will.
Pathetic…
“NATO Official Calls Comments on Ukraine Ceding Territory a ‘Mistake’ -The suggestion for Ukraine to give up territory in exchange for NATO membership sparked a backlash from Ukrainian officials”
Ukraine will cease to exist and the territory will mostly be New Russia!
I suspect western Ukraine will remain as a failed “Rump State”. Russia does not want to deal with the crazed Ukrainian nationalists.
Western Ukraine would most likely be taken by Poland if not by other neighbors as well such as Romania, Hungary and Slovakia…!
Well, they have to say that, because if Zelensky accepts any deal that includes the loss of Crimea, and the conquered parts of Donetsk, Zaporizhe and Kherson, then every single person who dies in the last 20 months died for nothing; since Ukraine could have gotten a better deal than that just by adhering to the Minsk accords before the special operation even began. So, he will bluster and swear and threaten till the very end – he has no other choice.
There is really no way back for the empire. If they back off form Ukraine, it will mean collapse of European vassal sates. If they escalate, Kremlin will also escalate. Perfect trap, imo.
Moscow is the real “For As Long As It Takes”. They are in the process of destroying the West. The parasites (the Rich Men north of Richmond) pushing for war will just move to another Host country once the West collapses.
I think it’s game over after the Anglo-American empire collapse. There is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide for this filth.
Love that hillbilly song ….
Too late to retract that comment.
Wars is going to cite it over the next few years. Lol
Doesn’t look like any of the tankies are talking about Russia refusing this NATO official’s proposal outright.
1) Ukrainians will decide what they want to end the war
2) They’re already advancing toward Crimea
3) They will probably allow Russia to keep the trash in Donbas.
4) They WILL become NATO members when the war ends.
Get used to it. (Tankie tears are precious!)
(Donnie J: I’m replying to you because most of those Russian troll/cowards have me blocked. Slava Ukraini!)
You make it too easy.
“I think that a solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory, and get NATO membership in return”
Somebody in NATO needs to put their big boy pants on and show some courage. What a bunch of wimps.
All NATO officials and American politicians still cannot face reality. They sound like people in the late 1860’s saying “the South will rise again!”
“It is completely Ukraine’s independent right to decide.”
Joining NATO, or when to negotiate? To the imperial West, the answer is yes, supposedly nothing is up to them, poor oppressed white men they are. Responsibility is fully outsourced to the designated whipping boys and created enemies.
Ukraine lost is sovereignty in 2014 when US/NATO overthrew the legally elected government and replaced it with Nazi’s. This coup government started a civil war and attempted to ethnically cleanse the Donbas of a section of former Ukrainian voters to change the balance of power in their favour.
For as long as it takes right? What a bunch of criminals they all are.
For as long as they can get away with robbing the population.
Yeah. Why make any kind of deal while you can still scrape up a few warm bodies to fight?
At this point, it doesn’t matter what NATO or Ukraine wants. Russia is going to take as much of eastern Ukraine as they deem necessary.
Maybe someday, if they ever get their shit together. Which, so far, they show no sign of doing.
Maybe someday, if they ever get their shit together. Which, so far, they show no sign of doing.
T Knapp ~ Can you grasp that Russia – plus the four Oblasts that voted to join the Russian Federation – is fighting a defensive battle? Allow me to use a boxing analogy from Muhammed Ali. In 1974, Ali used a defensive strategy against George Frasier in the famous “Rumble In The Jungle” fight called “rope-a-dope” where Ali let the slugger Frasier punch himself out before Ali went on the offensive.
Russia called the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation”. It was designed to encourage the Ukrainians to comply to the Minsk agreements. That is why the Russians only deployed ~ 90,000 combat troops with another 90,000 in reserve. Had Russia intended to conquer and occupy Ukraine they would have needed a minimum of 1,000,000 combat troops with another 500,000 in reserve. And, Russia’s strategy was working until the war-crazed Neocons in America and the their lapdogs in NATO (read Boris Johnson) demanded Ukraine fight Russia or lose the West’s support.
What’s happening today in eastern Ukraine is just what any thinking person would expect …. Ukraine’s army is being utterly decimated by the Russian army, navy and air force. Colonel MacGregor (Ret.) estimates Ukraine has suffered up to 400 KIAs thus far. Of course, the actual number is unknown but reports from mercenaries that have quit the war indicate Ukraine’s military is in terrible shape.
HneryJonesJr ~ Can you grasp that Russia is now fighting a defensive battle because its offensive strategy failed?
What’s happening today in eastern Ukraine is that the Russian forces have still — after 18 months, including eight months attempting to take one town — not secured Donetsk.
As for Col. McGregor …
“The battle in eastern Ukraine is really almost over.” — Col. McGregor, 02/27/22
“The first five days Russian forces I think frankly were too gentle. They’ve now corrected that. So, I would say another 10 days this should be completely over.” — Col. Mcregor, 03/04/22
“The war is really over for the Ukrainians. They have been grounded to bits.” — Col. McGregor, 03/14/22
“Ukraine is really on the ropes.” — Col. McGregor, 09/22/23
So pardon me if I don’t consider Col. McGregor the dispositive authority on how the war is going.
T Knapp ~ Thank you for the response. Clearly, you did not understand my words. Russia is fighting a DEFENSIVE battle. They have created multiple lines of defense the Ukrainians cannot reach. The Ukrainians are stuck in the “security zone” … yesterday’s “no man’s land”. When using a DEFENSIVE strategy you allow your opponent to weaken themselves BEFORE you deliver the knockout blow. Just wait and see ….
IF you actually listen to Colonel MacGregor, he qualifies his statements constantly. Active warfare is a chaotic endeavor T. Knapp. Situations change constantly on the battlefield and behind the battlefield. Give us your prediction on the weather in your hometown in six months and see how you do!
Yes, Russia is fighting a defensive battle in Kherson/Zaporizhzhia, while still trying, after 18 months of failing, to wrap up its offensive operation in Donetsk.
It does not automatically follow from that observation that the Russians are preparing a “knockout blow.”
What seems more likely is that they want to establish a defensible line of control encompassing Donetsk, Luhansk, and the land corridor, after which they’ll pull their teats out of the Kherson/Zaporizhzhia wringer, and declare “victory” and a unilateral ceasefire with a realistic chance of Ukraine being willing to return to “frozen conflict.”
Could I be wrong? Absolutely. And if I am I will, as usual, admit it once it’s established. Not preemptively, though.
Jenssen is on thin ice. And he is Norwegian.
NATO official is a lapdog and never got permission to say what he did.
Doesn’t seem to be a mistake at all…! NATO officials are cornered and want to end the war but they want Ukraine to do for them because the loser would be Ukraine Not NATO…! Egos Are Flying High…!