Ukraine angered by NATO official's suggestion that it could 'give up territory' to Russia and get NATO membership in return
- A NATO official said Ukraine could give territory to Russia in order to join the military alliance.
- The suggestion was met with fierce criticism from a top Ukrainian official.
Ukraine pushed back at a NATO official for suggesting that it could cede territory to Russia to pave the way for its membership in the military alliance.
Stian Jenssen, the chief of staff to NATO's secretary-general, made the suggestion while speaking at a panel discussing Ukraine's post-war security arrangements in Arendal, Norway, on Tuesday.
"I think that a solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory and get NATO membership in return," he said, per the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang.
Asked whether it was NATO's official position that Ukraine should give up land in order to join, Jenssen said: "I'm not saying it has to be exactly like that. But it can be a probable solution."
Jenssen was careful to stress NATO's official line: that it was up to Ukraine to decide how and when to engage with Russia.
But, even so, his comments were swiftly dismissed by a top Ukrainian official as "ridiculous" and an "appalling indulgence of murderers".
"Trading territory for a NATO umbrella? It is ridiculous," Ukrainian presidential chief of staff, Mihaylo Podolyak, tweeted.
Podolyak added: "That means deliberately choosing the defeat of democracy, encouraging a global criminal, preserving the Russian regime, destroying international law, and passing the war on to other generations."
Ukraine has repeatedly ruled out giving up parts of its land to Russia in return for peace.
Jenssen's comments come as Ukraine has struggled to make any significant progress in its counteroffensive efforts.
Ukrainian troops have been stalled by the huge density of Russian-laid minefields, which have up to five mines per square meter in some places.
Ukraine's NATO membership has been a sticking point among its Western allies.
While the Baltic States and the UK have rallied behind Ukraine's NATO membership, other countries, including France, Germany, and the US, have raised concerns about the risk of escalating the war.
NATO allies made some headway at a summit in July, by establishing a new Ukraine council and a multi-year program to help transition Ukraine "from Soviet-era to NATO equipment and standards".
But the alliance fell short of setting out a clear timeline for accession, triggering the ire of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"It's unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership," Zelenskyy said last month.