Zelensky suggests ceasefire talks without immediate territorial restoration if NATO joins

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated that if NATO and NATO membership are approved, a ceasefire can be negotiated even if Russia does not immediately regain the territory it occupies.

In an interview with British broadcaster Sky News on the 29th local time, President Zelensky said, "We can grant NATO membership to the land of Ukraine under our control. This is a solution to prevent the overheating of the war."

The comments come as Ukraine answers questions about possible U.S. coverage of a deal in which it joins NATO and Russia has territories it has occupied so far.

"If we want to stop the war, we need to put the Ukrainian territory under our control under NATO protection," Zelensky said. "Then the occupied territory can be recovered by Ukraine in a diplomatic way."

In response to these comments, Sky News interpreted it as the first time since the start of the war that Zelenskyy has hinted at the possibility of negotiating a ceasefire with Russia occupying parts of Ukrainian territory.

The broadcaster also interpreted that Zelensky seemed to accept that Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian territory could be excluded from the ceasefire negotiations for now.

Recently, Ukraine has emphasized that NATO membership should be achieved as soon as possible.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibyha also sent an open letter to NATO members urging them to make a decision in support of Ukraine's 'invitation to join', the first step in the NATO accession process, at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers to be held from the 3rd to the 4th of next month.

NATO member states are positive about Ukraine's membership in principle, but have not taken specific measures, such as invitations to join.

Analysts say this trend is due to concerns about the possibility of escalating conflict between Russia and NATO if Ukraine seeks to join the bloc amid the ongoing war.