War in Ukraine: Zelensky speaks for the first time about concessions, what is he ready to give to Russia ?

The Ukrainian President spoke on the modalities of a possible ceasefire. He requests the immediate protection of NATO against the temporary abandonment of certain territories.

This is the first time that Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is ready to make so many concessions. On Friday, November 29, in an interview with Sky News, the Ukrainian president gave the terms of a possible ceasefire with Russia. First of all, he is asking, as he has done since the beginning of the Russian invasion, for Ukraine to be placed “under the aegis of NATO”. This protection would be “a solution to end the hot phase of the war”, but would only concern the territories still controlled by Kiev. According to the Ukrainian president, this is a “possible solution, but no one has offered it”, while the country “greatly needs it”, in order to “guarantee that Putin will not return”.

Temporary abandonment of territories occupied by Russia

In exchange for this NATO protection, Volodymyr Zelensky hinted that he could temporarily give up Ukrainian territories already controlled by Russia. “We have to act quickly. And then, on the [occupied] territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can recover them through diplomatic means.” A first for the Ukrainian president, who had never agreed to give up any territory to its enemy, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in March 2014. In total, about 20% of Ukrainian territories are under Moscow's control

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Why now ?

This proposal by Volodymyr Zelensky comes after more than 1,000 days of open war against Russia. Several elements participated in the Ukrainian president's thinking. First of all, the election of Donald Trump in the United States. The American president-elect has a very different position from that of Joe Biden on the war in Ukraine. Indeed, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have a special bond and have great mutual respect for each other. A worrying relationship for Ukraine, which depends on American military aid, while Donald Trump claimed during his campaign that he could end this war in 24 hours. Volodymyr Zelensky has nevertheless affirmed his willingness to “work directly with him because there are different voices around him”.

This possible ceasefire would also come a few days after the intensification of Russian and Ukrainian bombings. On November 17, Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use its ATACMS missiles to strike targets on Russian soil. An announcement that came just two months before the transfer of power between the current president and Donald Trump and as Ukraine enters its third winter at war. Ukraine can also use British Storm Shadow missiles. Regarding French missiles, Emmanuel Macron assured that their use on Russian soil was an “option”, but without coming out firmly in favor of a “yes”.

In response to this American authorization, Russia has been bombing Ukrainian territory for two weeks, with nearly 90 missiles already launched on the country's electrical installations. Several million Ukrainians found themselves in the dark and without heating, while the mercury already drops below 0 °C at night. On Friday, kyiv announced having been targeted by 132 Russian drones during the night, killing one person and injuring eight. Russia also used the hypersonic ballistic missile “Oreshnik” on Ukraine on November 22, while threatening to repeat this launch on Kiev, but also on Western countries that arm Ukraine.

An “unacceptable logic of escalation” for Emmanuel Macron, who spoke on Friday, November 29, with his Ukrainian counterpart, reports the “Eacute;lysée. “These strikes, the increased cooperation with North Korea and the irresponsible rhetoric that accompanies them, are part of a logic of unacceptable escalation on the part of Russia,” said the French president, who reaffirmed France's “determination” to continue to help Ukraine “as intensively and for as long as necessary”.