Kyiv blasts rogue Nato aide for suggesting Ukraine surrender land to Russia

Speaking at a conference in Norway, Jenssen said: “I think that solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory and get Nato membership in return.

“There is significant movement in the question of future Nato membership for Ukraine. It is in everyone’s interest that the war does not repeat itself.

“Russia is struggling enormously militarily and it seems unrealistic that they can take new territories.

“Now it is rather a question of what Ukraine manages to take back.”

Unconvinced by Jenssen’s proposal, a Ukraine foreign ministry spokesman, Oleh Nikolenko, branded the sentiment as “ridiculous”, “absolutely unacceptable” and playing into Russia’s hands.

He added: “We have always assumed that the alliance, like Ukraine, does not trade territories.”

Likewise, Nato acted quickly to detach itself from Jenssen’s stance and instead reiterated its official position on the conflict.

“We will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary and we are committed to achieving a just and lasting peace,” a spokesperson said.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, said that surrendering land for a ceasefire would only lead to the “bad peace” of allowing Russia to regroup and gather reinforcements.

Podolyak wrote online: “It is ridiculous. [This would mean] choosing the defeat of democracy, encouraging a global criminal, preserving the Russian regime, destroying international law and passing the war on to other generations.”

Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian prime minister and now deputy head of the country’s security council, described the prospect of a deal as “interesting”, but said Moscow would only sit down at the negotiating table if Ukraine surrendered Kyiv.

Moscow senses blood in the water from ripples of discontent spreading through Europe at the perceived lack of progress made by Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

Kyiv has acknowledged that it holds little hope of the counteroffensive succeeding before the new year.

Tempering expectations, Iryna Vereshchuk, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister, wrote on messaging app Telegram: “We have to be honest: in this war, the road to victory will be long and hard.

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“Two to three weeks, by the end of the year, next spring — none of this is true. We have to get ready for a long fight. Everyone should prepare for a long and hard war. And only then will we win.

“We are preparing for a marathon, not a sprint.”

Keeping his cards close to his chest, frustratingly so for Kyiv, Jens Stoltenberg, has only mooted that Ukraine would one day be invited to join Nato.

Though more bullish about Ukraine’s membership, President Biden has also said that it would be “premature” to enlist Ukraine while it is at war with Russia.