The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) effectively rejected Ukraine's proposal on the 3rd (local time) to agree to a ceasefire on the condition of NATO membership.
Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, responded to related questions ahead of the NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Brussels, Belgium, saying, "Ukraine does not need more ideas about the peace (negotiation) process approach."
Secretary General Rutte stated, "If the peace process begins, various methods can be discussed, but for now, let's not have all these discussions," adding, "What is needed is to give Ukraine what it needs to be in a strong position when peace negotiations start." He further pointed out, "For that, we need to discuss more about providing Ukraine with additional military aid rather than what the peace process might look like at this moment."
He also indicated that during the two-day foreign ministers' meeting starting that day, the focus would be on how to provide more military aid to Ukraine, suggesting that Ukraine's NATO membership is not the top priority.
On the 29th of last month, Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, argued, "If we want to prevent the escalation of the war, we must place the Ukrainian territory under our control under NATO's (security) umbrella," adding, "Then the occupied territories of Ukraine can be regained through diplomatic means."
On the same day, Andriy Syvukha, Ukraine's Foreign Minister, also demanded, "Please decide on the 'invitation to join,' the first step in Ukraine's NATO accession process, at this NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting."
However, considering Secretary General Rutte's remarks that day, there is speculation that the agreement on the 'invitation to join' that Ukraine desires will not be reached at this meeting.
Secretary General Rutte also refrained from commenting when asked whether plans such as patrolling a demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine were discussed during his meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, saying, "I cannot say what President-elect Trump said."
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