Ukraine's NATO membership at the center of war and peace talks

[Anchor]

The core issue of the Ukraine war ultimately revolves around Ukraine's NATO membership.

Russia has made Ukraine's abandonment of NATO membership a condition for peace negotiations, while Ukraine has countered that it will develop nuclear weapons if its NATO membership fails.

Next, we have our Paris correspondent, Ahn Da-young.

[Report]

In Feb. 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, claiming it was due to Ukraine's attempts to join NATO.

NATO, the Western military alliance created under U.S. leadership to counter the former Soviet Union.

Countries from the former Eastern Bloc, including the three Baltic states, have joined NATO one after another, expanding NATO's influence in a strategy to move eastward against Russia.

In this context, if NATO military forces are stationed in Ukraine, which is only 500 km from Moscow, it could pose an existential threat to Russian security.

This is why Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that he is willing to discuss a ceasefire agreement regarding the Ukraine war with U.S. President-elect Trump, making Ukraine's abandonment of NATO membership a prerequisite.

[Vladimir Putin/Russian President/Sept. 12: "The NATO countries, the U.S. and European countries are fighting against Russia."]

On the other hand, for Ukraine, which abandoned its nuclear weapons in 1994, it is difficult to give up on the NATO membership.

[Volodymyr Zelensky/Ukrainian President/Oct. 17: "We gave up our nuclear weapons, and at that time, the negotiating parties should have provided us with security guarantees. However, they did not become our security umbrella."]

However, key NATO countries like the U.S. and Germany are delaying approval of Ukraine's NATO membership due to concerns about escalating conflict with Russia.

Ukrainian President Zelensky has taken a firm stance, stating that if NATO membership fails, Ukraine will develop nuclear weapons.

The possibility of Ukraine's own nuclear armament becoming a new issue in future peace negotiations has increased.

Reporting from Paris, this is KBS News, Ahn Da-young.