Ukraine risks losing its prospect of NATO membership following a series of agreements reached between individual Alliance member states and Russia.
CNN reports, as relayed by Hvylya.
A source with direct knowledge of the negotiations in Florida—which involved U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner—stated that the intensive talks represent "a step forward." The talks "built on progress made in Geneva," the site of last week's first round of discussions on U.S. proposals to end Russia's war in Ukraine.
"It would be very premature to say we are finished here, as there is still a lot of work ahead," the source stated. The source added, however, that the meeting was "highly focused, and the most problematic aspects of the peace proposals were discussed in detail," hinting that preliminary progress may have been achieved in some areas.
NATO Question
A major "sticking point" in the original 28-point U.S. peace proposal was the demand for Ukraine to formally renounce its constitutional aspiration to join NATO. This is a key Russian requirement to end the war, which Kyiv officials consistently reject.
However, the source now reports that negotiators discussed a potential scenario where Ukraine would be de facto barred from joining the U.S.-led military alliance through arrangements to be agreed upon directly between NATO member states and Moscow.
He noted: "Ukraine will not be forced to formally, in a legal sense, renounce this aspiration. But if the United States has something to agree upon with Russia bilaterally, or if Russia seeks certain guarantees from NATO multilaterally, that process does not involve Ukraine in the decision-making."
According to the source, a final decision on this delicate compromise—one likely to be unpopular among NATO member states—has not yet been made and will ultimately rest with the President of Ukraine. This suggests that, as the U.S.-Ukrainian talks continue and Witkoff prepares to travel to Moscow for negotiations at the Kremlin, "creative solutions" are being explored to bypass Kyiv's "red lines."
Earlier, Zaluzhnyi assessed the prospects for a long-term peace in Ukraine and articulated the Kremlin's objective.
