Russia allows for possible annexation of Odesa under one condition

Kyiv may allow NATO troops to enter Ukraine in exchange for handing over Odesa and all southern regions of the country to Russia.

This opinion was expressed by Colonel Viktor Baranets in an article for Komsomolskaya Pravda.

He emphasized that leaders of several European countries have already supported sending their forces to Ukraine after a peace agreement is reached, although Moscow has not yet given its consent to such actions. The military expert suggested that if NATO troops do enter Ukraine, the Russian side should conduct “compensatory bargaining” and demand the annexation of the country’s southern regions.

“An option: NATO enters Ukraine, but on the condition that all the southern regions of the former Ukraine, including Odesa and Mykolaiv — and possibly Kharkiv — go to Russia. We strike at another sore spot of Kyiv — we cut it off from the Black Sea,” he wrote.

Baranets also called for an agreement under which Russian forces would have the right to attack NATO troops stationed in Ukraine “with all available types of weapons, up to and including nuclear,” in the event of strikes on Russia launched from Ukrainian territory.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to discuss territorial issues with Russia. At the same time, he stressed that any exchange of territory should be discussed exclusively at the level of heads of state and with the participation of the United States.