Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the President's Office and a member of the negotiating team with russia, believes that Ukraine cannot make any concessions to the occupying country after all it has done during the invasion.
In an interview with LB, he noted that now there can be no compromise positions that we could agree on at the beginning of the war.
“We really need an agreement on security guarantees. This is normal, our neutral status is official ... It has been official since 1991,” he said, noting that although the Constitution sets a course for NATO, Ukraine's status is now non-aligned.
Podolyak stressed that the intentions to join a bloc are intentions, but there is a non-aligned, neutral status, so we are fighting on our own.
“And neutral status means a powerful army, a powerful weapon,” he said.
According to him, regarding security guarantees, Ukraine continues discussions with potential signatories.
“There may be a package of guarantees of different levels. It's just that countries have to decide for themselves whether they are ready to help in such situations in which Ukraine finds itself. This can be a formulaic solution for countries with neutral status who do not want to join any military alliances, but they want to have certain guarantees from powerful countries,” Podolyak added.
He is convinced that the issue of guarantees is a matter of a proper end to the war in Europe.
“That is, we are, again, returning to the key - the readiness of the global elite to take responsibility. Because just forming an alliance is one story, and taking responsibility, for example, at the border with the russian Federation - is another,” - said the adviser of Zelensky's office.
The state's course toward NATO is enshrined in the Constitution. Before and after the invasion, russia demanded Ukraine's refusal to join the Alliance. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in March that consolidating neutral status is possible after the referendum, but it can only take place after russian troops withdraw from Ukraine.
In April, David Arahamiya, head of the Servant of the People faction and head of the negotiating delegation, said that if a non-aligned status agreement was signed with russia and the guarantor countries, the next task would be to amend Ukraine's constitution. At the same time, if the Ukrainians confirm their course toward NATO, the agreement will not work.
During the talks, Ukraine suggested that the UN Security Council member states - Britain, China, russia, the United States, France, Turkey, Germany, Canada, Italy, Poland, and Israel - provide our country with security guarantees similar to NATO's collective security principle. In particular, within three days after the attack on Ukraine, the guarantor countries must provide military assistance, weapons, and create a no-fly zone.