Ukraine to cede no “inch of its” territories for NATO membership Kyiv reacts to Alliance Chief of Staff‘s dust-up remarks

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said Ukraine will not give up its territories to join NATO.

He made the remarks commenting on the statement by NATO Chief of Staff Stian Jenssen that Ukraine could allegedly become a member of the alliance in exchange for the territories occupied by Russia, RBC-Ukraine reports.

Kuleba recalled that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has a clear position on Ukraine, continuing that Stoltenberg and Jenssen are different people and the NATO secretary general’s position remains unchanged.

"The president [Volodymyr Zelenskyy] has repeatedly communicated with Secretary General Stoltenberg. I maintain very close relations with him [Stoltenberg] and I assure you that the secretary general's position is absolutely clear and exactly the same as Ukraine's - there can be no trade in Ukrainian territories," the minister said.

The foreign minister also noted that the Ukrainian leadership was working for the country to join NATO as soon as possible, rather than discussing possible options.

On August 15, NATO Chief of Staff Stian Jenssen suggested that Ukraine may gain membership in the alliance in exchange for ceding some territory to Russia, which may be part of the end of the war: “I think a possible solution for Ukraine could be to give up the territory in exchange for NATO membership,” Jenssen said, according to Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang.

“I'm not saying it has to be exactly like that. But it can be a probable solution,” he added.

These statements by Jenssen sparked controversy. The comments were striking as Western allies have long emphasised the importance of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Within hours, Ukraine was expressing outrage, diplomats were doing double takes and Moscow was putting it all through the Kremlin’s spin machine. 

Amidst the concerns, Stoltenberg told a Norwegian newspaper that Jenssen should not have spoken as simplistically as he did after his initial comments prompted an angry reaction from Kyiv.  

A day later,  in his interview with the same newspaper, VG, Jenssen apologised and clarified his comments: “My statement about this was part of a larger discussion about possible future scenarios in Ukraine, and I shouldn’t have said it that way. It was a mistake.”