NATO Official Denies Comments on Ukraine's Membership Conditional on Territory Concessions

The chief of staff to the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Stian Jenssen, has retracted his previous statement suggesting that Ukraine could join NATO if it agreed to cede part of its territory to Russia.

“I framed that as part of a broader discussion on potential future scenarios for Ukraine. I should not have presented it in that format. It was wrong,” Jenssen explained in an interview with Verdens Gang.

According to him, it should be up to Ukraine to determine the conditions under which it is willing to negotiate, and NATO should provide support to Ukraine in this process. Earlier, during a group debate in Arendal, Norway, Jenssen stated that Ukraine could become a NATO member if it agreed to cede some of its territory to Russia. He also noted that there is currently significant progress in the country’s efforts to join the North Atlantic Alliance.

Russia's Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev called Jenssen's comments interesting, but he added that the problem lies in the fact that all claimed Ukrainian territories are disputed. “In order to join the alliance, the authorities in Kyiv would have to relinquish even Kyiv, the former capital of Ancient Russia,” Medvedev concluded.