'Land in exchange for NATO': Kiev and the West discuss one scenario for ending the war - FT

Kiev may be granted NATO membership in exchange for "a diplomatic solution to the issue of Russian-occupied territories in the future". This is reported by Financial times.

It is said that the West considers this a reasonable compromise based on the current situation on the front.

Western diplomats and a growing number of Ukrainian officials are inclined to believe that meaningful security guarantees can become the basis for a negotiated settlement in which Russia retains de facto, but not de jure, control over all or part of the Ukrainian territory it is currently occupying," the newspaper said.

It is pointed out that such an approach does not mean that the occupied Ukrainian territories are recognised by Russia, but it implies diplomatic efforts to return them. We are talking about the territory that Russia has occupied since 2014.

Politicians in the West stress that no one intends to recognise what was illegally taken from Ukrainians, but they are "looking for options for an early cessation of active hostilities and a transition to diplomacy".

Recognition of the annexation would encourage further Russian aggression and seriously undermine the international legal order," the West said.

According to the newspaper, most allies are leaning towards this option and believe that the terms of membership in the organisation can be adapted to individual circumstances. For example, not to deploy nuclear weapons and foreign troops on its territory on a permanent basis and not to attack the enemy behind a conditional line.

NATO membership would guarantee Ukraine's sovereignty and allow it to continue its Western orientation - goals that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is determined to destroy," the FT points out.

The biggest opponent of this, however, is Washington. The White House fears that Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in the context of an unfinished war carries great risks and could provoke Russia to escalate the conflict already on the European continent.