According to the Wall Street Journal, quoted by the Russian Satellite Network, five days before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, German Chancellor Scholz had persuaded Ukrainian President Zelenskiy to abandon the search for Ukraine to join NATO.
German Chancellor Scholz. Image source: Visual China
On Feb. 19, Scholz made "one last attempt" to defuse tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the newspaper said.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Scholz told Zelenskiy at the time that "Ukraine should publicly abandon its desire to join NATO and declare its neutrality as part of a broader European security agreement between the West and Russia," which "will be signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden to jointly guarantee Ukraine's security." ”
Zelenskiy subsequently rejected Scholz's offer, which "made German officials fear that the opportunity for peace was disappearing" and prompted EU leaders to try to organize a summit between the presidents of Russia and the United States.
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The newspaper also said that these diplomatic efforts were brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke by phone with Putin and Biden on the night of Feb. 20. "Until 3 a.m., the French were still talking to Putin to negotiate the wording of a press release announcing plans for a U.S.-Russia summit," but on Feb. 21, Putin called Macron back and said the summit was canceled, the report said. According to the Wall Street Journal, Putin told Macron that he had decided to recognize the "independence" of the two regions of Eastern Uganda, Donetsk and Luhansk. Subsequently, on February 24, Russia conducted special military operations against Ukraine.
Last month, Zelenskiy relented and made it clear that Ukraine would not become a member of NATO and that Ukrainians must accept that reality. Zelenskiy said on March 15: "It is clear that Ukraine is not a member of NATO. We understand that. We are reasonable people. For years, we have been told what is called 'the (NATO) door is open', but what we hear now is that we cannot step into this gate. This is a fact, and we must acknowledge it. ”
Getting Ukraine to make a commitment not to join NATO is an important part of the Russian Foreign Ministry's security assurance proposal last December. Commenting on the West's response, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 1 that russia's three key security demands for the United States and NATO had been rejected.
"We have not seen the three key demands we have made fully taken into account: an end to NATO's eastward expansion, no use of strike weapons systems near Russia's borders, and a return of the EU's military infrastructure in Europe to 1997 levels." Putin said.
(Edit: DXY)