Ex-NATO Chief Stoltenberg: Temporary Territorial Concessions Could Help End War in Ukraine

Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg suggests that temporary territorial concessions could be a possibility to achieve a quick end to the war.

This was stated in an interview with Table.Briefings on December 2.

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

At the same time, Stoltenberg stressed the importance of ensuring Ukraine receives security guarantees in exchange for any temporary territorial concessions.

This could include NATO membership, but there are also "other ways to arm and support Ukraine," he added.

Stoltenberg also supported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's stance on rejecting any territorial concessions to Russia in the event of a ceasefire. However, he deemed this outcome unlikely at present due to the situation on the battlefield.

"We need a ceasefire line, and, of course, this line should ideally include all the territories that Russia controls by now. However, we see that this is not entirely realistic in the near future," he noted.

Previously on December 2, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that if Ukraine were to join NATO during Russia’s ongoing war, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which ensures collective defense, might not apply to the entirety of Ukraine's territory.