Zelensky gives up NATO membership in exchange for safeguards

Ukrainian president, who meets in Berlin with American envoy, admits giving up joining the alliance, but rejects ceding territory and demands security guarantees from European and American allies.

Ukraine gave up its objective of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance in exchange for security guarantees, as a form of commitment to end the war with Russia, President Volodimir Zelenski said this Sunday (14/12).

Zelenski announced the concession while traveling to the German capital, Berlin, where he began meetings with US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, in efforts to end the conflict on his territory.

The move represents a significant change for Ukraine, which had been fighting to join NATO as a safeguard against Russian attacks and even included that aspiration in its constitution. It also serves one of Russia’s goals, although Kiev has so far resisted ceding territory to Moscow.

Zelenski met the American envoys at talks organized by German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who made brief comments before leaving the two sides to negotiate. Other European leaders are also expected to arrive in Germany for talks that continue on Monday.

In the most recent negotiations, Washington had suggested creating a “free economic zone” in eastern Ukraine if Kiev agreed to cede the Donetsk region. Discussions now continue to focus on key issues such as the concession of territories, security guarantees and the use of frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine. After hours of conversations, Zelenski left the place on Sunday night.

Zelensky calls for NATO Article 5 for Ukraine

Before negotiations began, the Ukrainian president stated that receiving security guarantees from the United States, Europe and other partners, instead of joining NATO, represents a commitment on the Ukrainian side.

“From the beginning, Ukraine’s desire was to join NATO, these are real security guarantees. Some US and European partners did not support this direction,” he said in response to questions from reporters.

“So today, bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the US, Article 5-like guarantees for us from the US, and security guarantees from European colleagues as well as other countries – Canada, Japan – are an opportunity to prevent another Russian invasion,” Zelenski said. Article 5 is a NATO provision that considers an armed attack against a member as an attack on the entire group, which allows defense to also be collective.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine officially renounce its ambitions to join NATO and withdraw troops from the roughly 10% of Donbas that Kiev still controls. Moscow also stated that Ukraine must be a neutral country and that no troops from alliance states can be stationed on Ukrainian territory.

Russian sources said earlier this year that Putin wants a “written” pledge from major Western powers not to expand the U.S.-led alliance eastward — in other words, to formally exclude the membership of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and other former Soviet republics.

American pressure

Under pressure from Trump to sign a peace deal that initially backed Moscow’s demands, Zelensky accused Russia of prolonging the war through deadly bombings of cities and Ukraine’s energy and water supplies.

The dispatch of Witkoff, who led negotiations between Ukraine and Russia over a U.S. peace proposal, appeared to signal that Washington saw a chance for progress. The envoy stated that there was “great progress” in this Sunday’s talks.

The UK, France and Germany have been working to refine the US proposals. The previous draft also required Zelensky to limit the number of men in his armed forces.

Originally published by DW on 12/14/2025