Latest war in Ukraine: Russia ready to resume nuclear tests for first time since Soviet era | World News

NATO protection for part of Ukraine?

Asked about NATO, Volodymyr Zelensky said that “no one has offered Ukraine a place in the alliance,” but suggested that NATO’s “hot phase” could be ended if an invitation was extended to those parts of the country that its military controlled war.

The prerequisite for this would be that the NATO invitation itself recognizes Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders – including Crimea and the areas currently occupied by Russia in the east of the country.

He appeared to accept that occupied parts of the country would not be affected by such an agreement for the time being and that their possible return would be negotiated diplomatically at a later date.

Collaboration with Trump

Mr. Zelensky said he had not spoken to the president-elect since September, but added that he would like the two to exchange ideas.

“We had a conversation. It was very warm, good, constructive… It was a very good meeting and it was an important first step – now we have to prepare some meetings,” he said.

He also spoke of the need for bipartisan support from both Democrats and Republicans, saying there are “many voices from both parties that are on our side.”

“People are more important than land”

The Ukrainian leader said it was “difficult” to talk about the morale of soldiers on the front line as it was reportedly low.

He spoke of the primary importance of the people of his country and not the territory.

“This war is for the independence of the people, not the country,” he said. “The land is very important, it is part of the identity. But the people are the most important thing.”

Draft age

Mr. Zelensky dismissed a question about the draft age in Ukraine, following recent suggestions in some quarters that it should be lowered to 18 to ease labor shortages in Kiev.

“I think we have a lot of soldiers, but the limitation is that, frankly, we need to save as many lives as we can,” he said.

“And if the idea comes up in European or American offices that we need to do something different about the draft age, I would just ask our partners to do their part of the job and we will take care of our job.”

Putin a “terrorist”

Mr. Putin “thinks that we are part of Russia,” Mr. Zelensky said, saying no one could change the Kremlin chief’s mind.

In a major development, he indicated he was willing to talk to the Russian leader.

But he added: “I don’t want to give him a chance to give us an ultimatum… because he’s a murderer, and he’s a terrorist, and he’s alone.”