\n<\/p>\n
President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that the parts of Ukraine under his control should be taken “under the Nato umbrella” to try and stop the “hot phase” of the war.<\/p>\n
In a long, wide-ranging interview with Sky News, the Ukrainian president was asked whether he would accept Nato membership, but only on the territory that Kyiv currently holds.<\/p>\n
Zelensky said he would, but only if Nato membership was offered to the whole of Ukraine, within its internationally recognised borders, first.<\/p>\n
Ukraine could then attempt to negotiate the return of territory currently under Russian control “in a diplomatic way”, he said.<\/p>\n
But the suggestion is highly theoretical. As Zelensky pointed out, no-one has yet made such an offer.<\/p>\n
Whether Nato would ever consider such a move is highly doubtful.<\/p>\n
\u201cUkraine has never considered such a proposal, because no-one has officially offered it to us,\u201d Zelensky said.<\/p>\n
Nato would need to offer membership to the whole country, including those parts currently under Russian control, he said.<\/p>\n
“You can’t give [an] invitation to just one part of a country,” the president said, according to a translation provided by Sky News. “Why? Because thus, you would recognise that Ukraine is only that territory of Ukraine, and the other one is Russia.”<\/p>\n
Lots of people were proposing ceasefires, he said, but without a mechanism to prevent Russia from attacking again, ceasefires were simply too dangerous.<\/p>\n
Only NATO membership, he said, could offer that kind of guarantee.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian president has already said that he thinks the war could end in the coming year if Ukraine\u2019s allies show sufficient resolve.<\/p>\n
Reports suggest that discussion of the so-called West German model (Nato membership offered to a divided country) has been going on in Western circles for more than a year.<\/p>\n
But no formal proposals have yet been made.<\/p>\n
It is also worth noting that so far Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has given absolutely no indication that he\u2019s abandoned his desire to subjugate Ukraine entirely.<\/p>\n
The idea that he would be willing to allow any part of Ukraine to join Nato is, for now, unthinkable.<\/p>\n
All the indications so far suggest that any involvement of Nato is a complete non-starter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n