CNN: Florida talks explore "creative" approach to bar Ukraine from NATO
An idea that would allow Ukraine to keep its aspirations to join NATO on paper while effectively blocking membership through practical arrangements was discussed during Kyiv-Washington negotiations in Florida on a peace agreement to end the Russo-Ukrainian war, CNN has reported, citing an unnamed source.
A source told CNN that the talks explored a scenario in which Ukraine would be effectively barred from joining NATO, while any agreement on this would be negotiated between NATO countries and Russia.
"Ukraine will not be pushed to officially, in the legal sense, reject this aspiration. But if the United States has something to agree upon with Russia bilaterally, or if Russia wants to receive some assurances from NATO multilaterally, then this is not engaging Ukraine in the decision-making process," the source said.
CNN noted that framing the issue as "Ukraine's rejection of NATO" would likely face resistance from many NATO member countries.
The source confirmed that the matter was only discussed and no agreements have been reached – any decision on possible compromises will be made by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
They confirmed, as previously reported by other media, that the negotiations focused on which territories would remain under Russian occupation. It is not clear from CNN's source whether the US is still insisting that Ukraine withdraw without a fight from the unoccupied part of Donetsk Oblast.
"The idea to give up the control to Russians, where it would significantly weaken Ukraine's defence and make further potential aggression more likely to happen and significantly decrease Ukraine's capability, this is out of the scope... But that doesn't mean that there are no potential ways of preserving the constitutional provisions and keeping Ukraine's security," the source said.
The source declined to provide details on the options that were discussed.
"I really believe that if it becomes public, we may ruin the potential solution," they said.
On the evening of 30 November, Ukrainian time, talks between Trump's team and the Ukrainian delegation on a "peace plan" took place in Florida. American media began reporting details about how the nearly five-hour meeting unfolded and what was discussed.
After reporting on the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the negotiations had been "constructive", while US President Donald Trump again spoke of a "good chance" of a "peace deal".