CNN: US may sign separate treaty with Russia on Ukraine's non-membership in NATO
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the talks (Photo: EPA/MARTIAL TREZZINI)

The United States is considering a possible scenario in which Ukraine will actually be deprived of its right to join NATO, but will not have to legally recognize it. About this reports CNN, citing unnamed sources.

One of the most "problematic" points of the peace plan, according to those in the know, is the requirement that Ukraine formally abandon its constitutional aspiration to join NATO. This is one of Russia's key demands for ending a full-scale war.

According to the interlocutors, the US and Ukrainian negotiators discussed a possible scenario in which Kyiv would be effectively deprived of the opportunity to join the Western military alliance. Agreements on this should be agreed upon directly between NATO member states and Moscow.

"Ukraine will not be pushed to officially, in the legal sense, abandon this aspiration. But if the United States has something to agree with Russia on a bilateral basis or if Russia wants to get some guarantees from NATO on a multilateral basis, this will not involve Ukraine in the decision-making process," said one of the interlocutors.

The person in the know does not rule out that such a decision would not be popular among NATO members. The final decision on this issue has not yet been made, and it is supposed to be put to rest by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself. However, the source did not provide details on this.

The source called such arrangements a "creative solution" by the US negotiating team to circumvent Ukraine's "red lines."

  • on November 30, the US and Ukraine held talks on a peace plan in Florida. An Axios source said that the White House wants to eliminate discrepancies on the issues of territory and security guarantees. And the WSJ's interlocutor claimed that the parties will discuss the issue of the schedule of elections in Ukraine, the possibility of "territory exchange" and other items.
  • After the talks, NSDC head Rustem Umerov said that the United States share key goals Ukraine, and Secretary Rubio said that these negotiations were not finalized, but noted progress.