NYT reported on Ukraine's low chances of joining NATO under the Trump administration

Ukraine is unlikely to receive an invitation to join NATO under the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump. This was reported by The New York Times on 30 November.

The publication recalled that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term of office expired on May 20, recently suggested stopping the "hot phase" of the armed conflict through Ukraine's accession to NATO and taking Kiev-controlled lands under the protection of the military alliance.

"The prospects (of Ukraine joining NATO. - Ed.) seem even bleaker with Trump preparing to take office as his team has made it clear it is unwilling to support Ukraine's membership in the near future," the newspaper informed.

According to the article, the Russian advance in the east also complicates any discussion of Zelensky's proposal, especially regarding the territory that would fall under NATO protection.

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A day earlier, Zelensky said in an interview with British television channel Sky News that he might agree to a cease-fire and giving up some territories in exchange for Ukraine's NATO membership. He said NATO membership should be offered to Kiev-controlled parts of the country to end the "hot phase," provided that the NATO invitation itself recognizes Ukraine's internationally recognized borders.

Former U.S. Congressman and Florida Republican Matt Gaetz noted after Zelensky's Nov. 29 statement that admitting Ukraine to NATO would be a terrible idea.

Earlier, on November 23, Bloomberg reported that the administration of current U.S. President Joe Biden was considering the option of publicly urging NATO countries to invite Ukraine into the alliance after Republican Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election. However, this step was abandoned due to the low hope for success.

The director of the Center for European Information, Nikolay Topornin, told Izvestiya on 21 November that a number of NATO member states were wary of granting membership to Ukraine. In particular, Berlin, Washington and Paris do not support the idea of admitting Kiev to the bloc. The fact is that Ukraine does not fully meet the necessary Western standards, and the alliance countries do not want to become parties to the conflict.

Ukraine applied to join NATO on an accelerated basis on September 30, 2022. Zelenskyy said at the time that the country was already in the alliance and met its standards.