Germany denies report on NATO proposal to resume peace talks with Russia

A German government spokesperson on Feb. 26 denied a report that France, Germany and the U.K. have suggested a NATO defense pact with Ukraine in exchange for resuming peace talks with Russia, Reuters reported.

The spokesperson said that “there has been no development in the possible NATO security guarantees for Ukraine” for months.

The issue “played no role at all” during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier in February, the spokesperson added.

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The announcement comes shortly after a recent report on the issue by the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper reported, citing officials from the three countries, that France, Germany, and the U.K. had suggested a defense pact with Ukraine. According to the report, the countries also believe that closer links between NATO and Ukraine may serve as a way to encourage Kyiv to begin peace talks with Moscow this year.

While the parameters of the pact are not set in stone, some officials from the three countries said Ukraine would likely obtain access to a “broad array of NATO standard weapon systems and integrate its armed forces more tightly into the Western defense industry supply chain.”

The proposed pact would not include the sending of NATO forces to Ukraine or Article 5 protection but rather give Ukraine the military means to prevent a future attack by Russia by changing the Kremlin’s calculus.

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