In a rare moment following more than two years of war, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has belatedly admitted the Ukraine may have to compromise with Russia at the negotiating table.
He made the remarks in a fresh interview with BBC at a moment he’s urging Western allies to commit to approving his proposed five-year, 100 billion euro fund for Ukraine. As we’ve underscored before, this is largely about “Trump-proofing” NATO funding for Kiev for years to come, in anticipation that he could be in the White House next year.
Stoltenberg is still playing up the narrative that Ukraine needs major backing from the West in order to build leverage going into any potential future negotiations. Battlefield gains enabled with strong Western support could lead to an “acceptable result” for the Ukrainian side, he said.
“At the end of the day, it has to be Ukraine that decides what kind of compromises they’re willing to do, we need to enable them to be in a position where they actually achieve an acceptable result around the negotiating table,” he told BBC.
He sought to clarify that he’s not urging Ukraine to offer any concessions at this point, but said that “real peace” will only be achievable when “Ukraine prevails”.
And yet, by all accounts Ukraine forces have not made any forward advances, instead the opposite. BBC commented on Stoltenberg’s rare talk of ‘compromise’ as follows:
But his language is notable because President Volodymyr Zelensky has always been adamant that he would never negotiate with Putin despite some calls on him to do so, including from the Pope.
Mr Stoltenberg refused to be drawn on whether he was concerned about the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House, saying only that he was sure the US would continue to be an important ally, whoever was in charge.
Zelensky’s consistent position throughout the war has been to say that he’ll never negotiate with Moscow so long as Vladimir Putin is in power.
As for Stoltenberg, he had this to say only a few weeks ago in response to Pope Francis’ position that the warring sides need to urgently find compromise and end all fighting…
In an apparent reference to Pope Francis’s remarks about Ukraine raising the white flag for the cause of peace, Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said that “surrender is not peace” for Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/mdOkSk5470
— TVP World (@TVPWorld_com) March 11, 2024
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