Ukraine pushes NATO for invite as Trump looms

Nato's Dutch Secretary General Mark Rutte looks on as he answers journalists' questions during a Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Oganization) Foreign Ministers' meeting at the Nato headquarters in Brussels, on Dec. 3, 2024.

Ukraine insisted Tuesday that NATO membership was the only "real guarantee" for its security as foreign ministers from the alliance looked set to rebuff Kiev's push for an invite ahead of Donald Trump's return to the U.S. presidency.

Trump has vowed to press for a quick deal to end Russia's war, leaving Kiev scrambling to position itself ahead of his January inauguration.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said getting security guarantees from the Western alliance and supplies of key weaponry are prerequisites for Kiev to start talking about halting its fight.

"We are convinced that the only real guarantee of security for Ukraine, as well as a deterrent to further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other states, is Ukraine's full membership in NATO," the foreign ministry in Kiev said.

Zelensky said Sunday that Kiev was hoping NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels with Ukraine's top diplomat would issue "recommendations" to grant his country a membership invitation.

"But we have no illusions — there are some sceptical countries," he said.

Until now, the leaders of NATO heavyweights the United States and Germany have backed away from Ukrainian membership out of fear it could drag the alliance into a war with Russia.

Diplomats said that with the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden on its way out and Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz's future in doubt ahead of elections, Kiev hoped their foreign ministers could have more leeway.

But U.S. officials in private say the...