In response to a question about territorial concessions for Ukraine's membership in NATO, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is ready to exchange Russia's Belgorod for membership in the Alliance.
He was speaking at a joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
"Exchange of territories? We are ready to exchange Belgorod for our NATO membership," Zelenskyy said.
He was commenting on proposals to exchange Ukraine's territory for peace and NATO membership.
Frederiksen also stressed that Ukraine would decide for itself whether and when to negotiate peace.
"We will support you as long as it takes. But the question is when you will be ready to sit down for negotiations. This decision should be made exclusively by Ukraine," she said.
Recently, Stian Jenssen, Director of the Private Office of the NATO Secretary General, suggested during a public discussion in Arendelle that Ukraine could become a member of the Alliance in exchange for part of its territory. He added that this decision should be made by Kyiv.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry responded by saying this suggestion is completely unacceptable.
Later, the White House denied that there had been talks of granting Ukraine NATO membership in exchange for it giving up part of its territory.