Former NATO secretary general believes Ukraine should temporarily cede territory to end war

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes that Ukraine's territorial concessions to Russia are acceptable to end the war.

Nevertheless, Stoltenberg stressed  in an interview with Table.Briefings the importance of Ukraine receiving security guarantees in exchange for temporary territorial concessions.

He added that this could be NATO membership, but there were "other ways to arm and support Ukrainians".

"If the ceasefire line means that Russia continues to control all the occupied territories, it does not mean that Ukraine has to give up the territory forever," Stoltenberg said.

Stoltenberg supported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's statement about refusing to make concessions to Russia in the event of a ceasefire, but he believes this is unlikely at the moment due to the situation on the battlefield.

"We need a ceasefire line, and, of course, ideally, it should cover all the territories currently controlled by Russia. But we see that this is not entirely realistic in the near future," he said.

This week, for the first time, Zelenskyy acknowledged the possibility of Ukraine signing a "ceasefire agreement" if the Ukrainian-controlled territory is brought "under the NATO umbrella".

Ukrainian officials previously acknowledged that the Alliance would not extend an invitation to join until after the war. It was also said that such accession would take place within internationally recognised borders.