Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly expressed openness to dropping his demands that Kyiv join NATO as part of any end of the Ukraine War.

In place of alliance membership, he told journalists that he would be open to a security arrangement with Washington and European states offering security guarantees in the event of another invasion, according to the Financial Times.

“We are talking about bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States — namely, Article 5-like guarantees ... as well as security guarantees for us from our European partners and from other countries such as Canada, Japan and others,” he said.

In practice, the change is a limited concession, as such an agreement would still commit western powers to militarily enforce Ukrainian sovereignty. But the reported shift remains significant given the war began due to a standoff over Ukraine seeking NATO membership in the first place.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.