NATO qualifies that Ukraine will decide how to negotiate with Russia after a senior official suggested the cession of occupied territories
NATO has had to clarify this Wednesday that its position and support for Ukraine remain unchanged, after the outrage caused in Kiev and other capitals by the statements by Stian Jenssen, chief of staff of the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg. Jenssen, at a political forum in Norway held on Tuesday, considered as a possible solution to the Russian offensive in Ukraine that this country cede territory in exchange for its long-awaited entry into the international organization based in Brussels.
“NATO’s position is clear and remains unchanged. As NATO leaders reiterated at the Vilnius summit in July, we fully support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” the Alliance has settled in a brief statement sent to various news agencies.
In addition, NATO has sent a rectification made by Jenssen himself this Wednesday, published in the Norwegian newspaper VG, which was the one that initially reported that the senior NATO official had said, during a debate at the local political forum Arendalsuka, that he considered that “a solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory and, in exchange, achieve membership in NATO”.
“That statement was part of a larger discussion about possible future scenarios in Ukraine, and he shouldn’t have said it like that. It was a mistake”, Jenssen qualified 24 hours later in an interview with the same Norwegian newspaper.
His original statements had caused a stir in kyiv, where they were described as “ridiculous” and “unacceptable” by several senior representatives of the Government of Volodimir Zelensky.
“Exchange territory for a NATO umbrella? It’s ridiculous. That would mean deliberately choosing the defeat of democracy, encouraging a global criminal, maintaining the Russian regime, destroying international law and passing the war on to other generations,” Mikhailo Podoliak, security adviser to the presidential office, settled on social media.
They are “completely unacceptable” ideas, also abounded on social networks Oleg Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, for whom this type of comment, he warned, “plays hand in hand with Russia.”
Moscow has not been slow to assess Jenssen’s initial comments as “interesting”, according to the former president and current vice president of the Security Council, Dimitri Medvedev.
Despite the “qualification” of his initial statements, in the interview that the senior manager of Stoltenberg’s office gave to VG, he insisted that “yes, and I emphasize yes, the point of being able to negotiate is reached; the military situation on the ground, the territory, or who controls what (area) will be central issues”. In any case, Jenssen continues, “there are no signs that Russia has ended its war of aggression”: “We are not at that moment (of a possible negotiation).” Hence, Jenssen adds, “it is crucial that we continue to support the Ukrainians with what they need.”
