President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kiev’s offer of NATO membership to the region under its control would end the “hot phase of the war” in Ukraine, but the offer to join the military alliance should be extended to all parts of the country within internationally recognized borders. he said in a broadcast interview.

Zelenskyy’s remarks on Friday signaled a possible path forward toward the difficult path Ukraine faces on its path to future NATO membership. At the summit held in Washington in July, 32 members declared that Ukraine was on an “irreversible” path towards membership.

But one obstacle to progress has been the alliance’s view that Ukraine’s borders must be clearly demarcated before joining, so that there is no mistaking where the mutual defense treaty will come into force.

“You can’t give invitations to just one part of a country,” Zelenskyy said in an excerpt from an interview with Sky News. “Why? Because then you will understand that Ukraine is just one region of Ukraine, and the other is Russia.”

According to the Ukrainian Constitution, Ukraine cannot recognize the territories occupied by Russia as Russia.

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“Therefore, legally, legally, we do not have the right to recognize the occupied territories as Russian territory,” he said.

Since the start of the war in 2022, Russia has been wasting huge amounts of weapons and human lives to make small but steady territorial gains in eastern and southern Ukraine, almost a fifth of the Ukraine it currently controls.

“If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we must bring the Ukrainian lands under our control under the umbrella of NATO. This is what we need to do quickly. “Later, Ukraine can diplomatically regain the other part of its territory,” he said.

Ukraine’s invitation to join NATO is one of the key points of the “victory plan” that Zelenskyy presented to Western allies and the Ukrainian people in October. The plan is seen as a way for Ukraine to strengthen its hand in any negotiations with Moscow.

Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the alliance “must go further” to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion. Military aid to Kiev and steps to end the war are expected to be at the top of the agenda at the two-day meeting of foreign ministers of NATO members in Brussels on December 3.

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However, Ukraine’s decision to join the military alliance would require a longer process and the agreement of all member states.

There are also uncertainties regarding the foreign policy stance of US President-elect Donald Trump. Although Trump promised during the campaign that he would end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in one day, he has not publicly discussed how this might happen. Trump also announced Wednesday that highly decorated retired three-star general Keith Kellogg, 80, will serve as his special envoy to Ukraine and Russia.

“Ending the Russia-Ukraine war will require strong, America First leadership to secure a peace agreement and immediately end hostilities between the two warring parties,” Kellogg wrote in April.

Meanwhile, during his only campaign debate with US Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump twice refused to directly answer a question about whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war; This has raised concerns that Kiev may be forced to accept unfavorable terms in any negotiations.

Zelenskyy’s statement comes as Ukraine faces increasing pressure along its 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) frontline. Russian forces have recently advanced near Kupiansk, Toretsk and Pokrovsk and Velyka Novosilka, a key logistics route for the Ukrainian army, the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report published Saturday.

Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram that at least four people died when a Russian missile hit Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on Saturday. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said that at least 21 people were injured in the attack, eight of whom were in serious condition.

Ukrainian air force announced on Saturday that the country was attacked by 10 Russian drones, eight of which were shot down in Kiev, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson regions. As one drone returned to Russian-occupied territory, the last drone disappeared from radar; this was often a sign of the use of electronic defenses.

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that 11 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by the country’s air defense systems. Mayor of Sochi in southwestern Russia, Andrey Proshunin, and the head of Russia’s Dagestan region, Sergey Melikov, said that the UAVs in their areas were destroyed overnight. There was no loss of life.

Ukraine’s president on Friday announced a series of changes in military leadership, saying changes in personnel management were needed to improve the situation on the battlefield.

Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi, who led the defense of Kharkiv during Russia’s new offensive against Ukraine’s second largest city this year, has been appointed as the new head of the Ukrainian Ground Forces. Oleh Apostol was appointed as the new deputy commander-in-chief responsible for improving military training.