Russia mulling to allow Ukraine to join EU as long as it is not militarily aligned: Report

In a key development, Russia may allow Ukraine to join the European Union (EU) provided it commits to stay out of NATO, as Ukrainian authorities expressed openness to a neutrality commitment as part of broader negotiations to halt Russia's invasion of the ex-Soviet state, The Financial Times reported.

According to the report, which cited four unnamed sources, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are weighing a deal that would require Ukraine to be militarily neutral, barring it from joining NATO or hosting foreign bases. However, the deal would allow Ukraine to seek security guarantees from other countries and pursue EU membership. These security guarantees, according to Ukrainian politician and negotiator David Arakhamia, would oblige nations like the US to aid Ukraine if it is attacked, an arrangement he compared to NATO's Article 5 collective defence norm.

According to the Financial Times, preliminary ceasefire negotiations does not contain any demands that Ukraine's government "demilitarise" or "denazify," two of Russian President Vladimir Putin's stated aims when he ordered the invasion last month. Ever since the onset of military aggression, negotiators have met for ceasefire discussions many times. It's still unclear whether Ukraine and Russia will reach an agreement. There are still "unresolved matters" between the two sides, according to Arakhamia, and some Ukrainian and Western officials appear to question Russia's sincerity.

Russia-Ukraine war

It is pertinent to mention here that many Western diplomats suspected Putin was attempting to remove Zelenskyy's administration and replace him with a more pro-Kremlin leader when Russian military invaded Ukraine more than a month ago. The move basically put an end to Ukraine's on-again, off-again attempts to strengthen relations with NATO and the EU, a ploy that Russia strongly opposes. The Russian military, on the other hand, has faced stiffer-than-expected Ukrainian resistance, which may force it to scale down its aspirations.

The Kremlin stated earlier this month that it is open to neutrality for Ukraine, similar to Austria or Sweden, neither of which are NATO members. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, looks to be open to a neutral position as well. He told Russian reporters on Sunday that he's open to talk about neutrality.