Ukraine has relinquished its ambition of joining the NATO military alliance in exchange for Western security guarantees as a compromise to end the war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said ahead of talks with US envoys in Berlin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday voiced readiness to drop his country's bid to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees, but rejected the US push for ceding territory to Russia as he held talks with US envoys on endi

“We are talking about bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States,” as well as other guarantees, Zelenskyy said, according to an FT report.

Zelenskyy proposes dropping NATO bid for Western security guarantees but rejects U.S. demand for territorial concessions to Russia.

Zelenskyy said that any security assurances would need to be legally binding and supported by the U.S. Congress.