NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has indicated that Ukraine may ultimately have to compromise with Russia in order to bring an end to the brutal conflict.
In an interview with the BBC, Stoltenberg said that Ukraine would have to decide what compromises they would be willing to make.
“At the end of the day, it has to be Ukraine that decides what kind of compromises they’re willing to do, we need to enable them to be in a position where they actually achieve an acceptable result around the negotiating table,” he said.
However, Stoltenberg also maintained that NATO would need to continue backing Ukraine into order to prevent future Russian aggression.
“Even if we believe and hope that the war will end in the near future, we need to support Ukraine for many years, to build their defences to deter future aggression,” he said.
Stoltenberg’s comments come days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted that U.S. support for Ukraine remained “rock solid” and that he would support Ukraine joining NATO, despite the catastrophic risks of doing so.
“Ukraine will become a member of NATO,” Blinken told reporters in Brussels following a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. “Our purpose at the summit is to help build a bridge to that membership.”
“Based on what I heard today … everyone, including the United States, is going to double back and, as necessary, double down on finding the resources that Ukraine continues to need,” he continued.
In February, it was reported that Joe Biden rejected a proposal from Russian leader Vladimir Putin to negotiate a ceasefire and potentially bring peace to the region.
According to Reuters, Putin signaled through intermediaries that he was willing to end the conflict along its current lines, which hand permanent control of various territories over to Russia.