Quitting NATO membership was one of the conditions that US President Donald Trump had hinted would end the war when he was trying to broker a ceasefire between the two warring nations last month.
Putin claimed Russia was forced to wage war against Ukraine in 2022 as a security response to the West using NATO to absorb the post-Soviet territories.
“As for Ukraine’s membership of the EU, we have never objected to this… As for NATO, this is another issue,” Putin told Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during talks in China.
The Russian leader remarked that there are still ways, other than joining the NATO alliance, to ensure Ukraine’s security. “It seems to me that there is an opportunity to find consensus here,” Putin said, adding that he had discussed it with US President Trump when they met in Anchorage, Alaska on August 15.
Thank you, Emmanuel, for the steadfast support. We are preparing an active and substantive week. It’s imperative the Russians understand: dragging their feet and prolonging the war will carry consequences.
We stand united with our partners in pursuit of peace. https://t.co/7VyrfvQqC0
– Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelenskyy (@zelenskyyua) September 1, 2025
Putin’s comments come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues to mobilise support from NATO leaders to define security guarantees for his country.
Zelenskyy was in talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron, Portugese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, and others even as Putin showboats in the ongoing diplomatic spectacle alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other leaders of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in China.
Peace talks
Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska, followed by a separate one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in less than a week, marked the first step towards peace talks aimed at ending the three-and-a-half year war in Ukraine.
However, it has not progressed to the proposed trilateral meeting with direct talks between Putin and Zelenskyy.
Trump had since put the onus on Ukraine to agree to Russia’s terms, which may include giving up parts of its land, to bring the war to an end. Zelenskyy, on his part, had demanded a lasting and meaningful resolution rather than a temporary solution that will only serve as “a springboard for a new attack.”
“It is Moscow that must hear the word: ‘Stop,'” Zelenskyy said at the time.
In 2014, Ukraine ceded Crimea to Russia, which eventually launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
Meanwhile, Russia continued firing missile and drone strikes in Ukraine even when peace talks were on.
Zelenskyy last week called on world leaders to launch fresh sanctions on Russia, pointing out that Kremlin does not fear consequences and continues to attack because many “turn a blind eye to murdered children and seek excuses for Putin.”
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