The Kremlin said Monday that Ukraine’s non-NATO status remains a “cornerstone” of any settlement to end the war, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signaled a willingness to abandon Kyiv’s long-standing bid to join the Western military alliance in exchange for binding security guarantees.
“This issue is one of the cornerstones and requires special discussion,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a daily briefing, following Zelensky’s talks in Berlin with US envoys and European leaders.
Peskov said Moscow was waiting for the United States to “provide us with the concept that is being discussed in Berlin today,” as diplomatic efforts intensified nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Zelensky held about five hours of talks on Sunday with US negotiators in the German capital, with discussions stretching into Monday. The talks were hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, with other European leaders also expected in Berlin.
Ahead of the meetings, Zelensky publicly acknowledged that some NATO members oppose Ukraine’s accession and said Kyiv was prepared to drop its ambitions to join the alliance – a major shift for a country that has enshrined NATO membership in its constitution as a safeguard against Russian aggression.
“From the very beginning, Ukraine’s desire was to join NATO – these are real security guarantees,” Zelensky said in answers to reporters shared via a WhatsApp chat. “Some partners from the US and Europe did not support this direction.”
He said Ukraine was now seeking legally binding bilateral security guarantees from the United States – comparable to NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause – along with commitments from European allies and other partners, including Canada and Japan.
“This is already a compromise on our part,” Zelensky said, stressing that any guarantees must be enforceable to prevent future Russian attacks.
Russia has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine formally renounce its NATO aspirations, adopt permanent neutrality and bar the presence of NATO troops on its territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also insisted that Kyiv withdraw its forces from the parts of the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions – collectively known as the Donbas – that remain under Ukrainian control.
According to an official briefed on the negotiations cited by AFP, US negotiators continue to press Ukraine to cede control of the Donbas as a condition for peace talks, a demand Kyiv has rejected.
“Putin wants territory,” the official said, adding that Washington was asking Ukraine to “withdraw” from the region – a position Kyiv does not accept.
“It’s a bit striking that the Americans are taking the Russians’ position on this issue,” the official added.
Moscow currently occupies most of Donetsk and Lugansk, though Ukrainian forces still control roughly 10% of the territory. Russia has illegally claimed the regions as its own.
