Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman decries NATO official’s suggestion that Ukraine may trade territories for alliance membership

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry representative Oleg Nikolenko commented Tuesday on an earlier statement from NATO official Stian Jenssen in which the latter suggested Ukraine might ultimately have to cede part of its territory to Russia in exchange for joining the transatlantic alliance.

“Any talk of Ukraine’s membership in NATO in exchange for giving up part of its territory is absolutely unacceptable. We have always assumed that the alliance, like Ukraine, doesn’t engage in territorial bargaining,” Nikolenko wrote on Facebook. He added that any discussion of territorial concessions by NATO representatives “plays into Russia’s hands.”