“Zelensky’s agreement to freeze the war in exchange for NATO membership could derail negotiations with Russia”, – former head of France’s military mission says

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s agreement not to fight for territories if Ukraine is accepted into NATO is an attempt by Kyiv to derail negotiations with Vladimir Putin.

This opinion was expressed in an interview with Le Parisien by Dominique Trinquan, the former head of the French military mission to the United Nations.

“When you announce in advance what the negotiations should conclude with, such as the return of lost territories, you will not be able to involve Mr. Putin in those negotiations. This is completely unrealistic,” said the retired general.

He added that “NATO is the very reason that Putin uses as a justification for the war.”

Therefore, “bringing NATO into the discussion only exacerbates the situation for the Russian side. And negotiations require two parties.”

“Unless the goal was to show that Mr. Putin does not want to negotiate and rejects all offers,” Trinquan stated.

He also described Zelensky’s statement as “an admission of defeat and an inability to soberly assess reality and project it into the future.”

At the same time, “when Zelensky says he wants to stop the hot phase of the war, he is right. You can’t continue like this, or else Ukrainian youth will be destroyed.”

Trinquan believes that NATO will not respond to the words of the Ukrainian president “so as not to emphasize Vladimir Zelensky’s mistakes.”

It should be noted that Ukraine is requesting NATO to officially invite it into the Alliance during a meeting scheduled for this week.