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Ukraine is open to considering an alternative security arrangement to NATO membership, but insists that any guarantees must be legally binding and effective, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera.
Zelenskyy said the ideal security framework would combine three elements: Ukraine’s armed forces, the European Union and NATO.
He described Ukraine’s military as a concrete guarantee of the country’s defense, adding that its experience and personnel could also strengthen European armies.
NATO membership would provide Ukraine with a shared security system in which allies’ obligations are legally defined. EU accession, meanwhile, depends on decisions by European countries, while joining NATO requires support from both Europe and the United States, he said.
Conditions for an alternative to NATO
Zelenskyy said Kyiv was willing to consider other security guarantees if they were equivalent to NATO membership in both strength and legal force.
“We are ready to discuss equivalent guarantees, even under a different name, but they must have the same legal force,” he said.
Ukraine is seeking more than formal promises from its partners, he added. Any arrangement must include a mechanism that would provide real protection if the country faced another threat.
Zelenskyy argued that NATO membership could serve as a deterrent for both sides. Any alternative, therefore, must offer a comparable level of security.
US Vice President JD Vance has previously said Ukraine should not join NATO. In an interview with 2WAY TONIGHT, he said Washington and Kyiv had no formal alliance agreement, although the two countries would continue cooperating on specific issues.
In September, NATO leaders officially recognized Ukraine as a contributor to Euro-Atlantic security for the first time at leaders’ level. Ukraine’s ambassador to NATO, Olena Getmanchuk, said the decision opened new opportunities for support from allies.
