Jenssen hints that allies foresee stalemate in war with Russia

Of course, the choice of words was bad and clumsy, which is why it was called a mistake yesterday. No one is going to change anything, neither politically nor legally. But there is no smoke without fire, and the very fact of the interview with the head of the office is something outside the rules for the Western world.

“These words indicate that Ukraine's allies allow for a "stalemate" on the battlefield, temporary or longer, and are therefore discussing what this will mean in terms of security models. Of course, we do not like such discussions emotionally, but we must respect our allies and understand their logic, because we have no other allies and we critically need them in the fight for Ukraine.”

The point of the discussion that is being made in some Western circles is something like this. If NATO at some point decides on Ukraine's membership in the Alliance, but at that moment all the territory of Ukraine is not yet liberated, what does this mean? Then NATO decides to extend Article 5 on collective defense to the territory Ukraine controls. At the same time, any further actions to liberate Ukrainian territories will mean that Russia will launch strikes on NATO territory. This raises the question of whether we have to coordinate actions to liberate the territories within NATO, and if so, whether this is a restriction of Ukraine's sovereignty over its territories.

This may sound like casuistry to many, but we have to be prepared for such discussions - not only emotionally, but also rationally. As the saying goes, "the devil is in the details." And no one will be able to "exchange" territories for NATO, Ukrainians will not accept and will not allow such barter.

Source

About the author. Pavlo Klimkin, diplomat, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.

• On 15 August, NATO Secretary General's Chief of Staff Stian Jenssen has suggested the possibility of Ukraine's territorial concessions to Russia in exchange for membership in the Alliance.
• The NATO summit took place in Vilnius on July 11-12. The meetings were attended by leaders and government officials from various countries. Lithuania hosted the summit for the first time at the LITEXPO congress center. Security was ensured by thousands of military personnel, and the airspace was protected by air defense systems.