Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has two major “red lines” that he does not want to cross as part of any future peace deal – and one of them is in defiance of the Donald Trump administration. Ukraine’s delegation at Tuesday’s peace talks with the US in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, made clear to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Kyiv would not accept limits to the size of its military or restrictions on which political institutions it could join, including NATO, sources close to the meeting told European Pravda.
“For Ukraine, there are red lines — including that there can be no restrictions on the size of the defence forces and no prohibitions on Ukraine’s participation in international organisations, including the EU and NATO. The issue of NATO also came up in remarks by [Zelensky Chief of Staff Andriy] Yermak, stressing that Russia must not have a veto right,” the source told then outlet. The NATO red line contravenes the American position, as set out by the Trump administration. US President Donald Trump’s Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said in February that he “does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement”.
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