---
title: "NATO backpedals as Ukraine fumes over land for membership gaffe"
type: "post"
post_id: "4837"
slug: "nato-backpedals-as-ukraine-fumes-over-land-for-membership-gaffe"
canonical: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2023/08/16/nato-backpedals-as-ukraine-fumes-over-land-for-membership-gaffe/"
markdown_url: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2023/08/16/nato-backpedals-as-ukraine-fumes-over-land-for-membership-gaffe.md"
json_url: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2023/08/16/nato-backpedals-as-ukraine-fumes-over-land-for-membership-gaffe.json"
txt_url: "https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2023/08/16/nato-backpedals-as-ukraine-fumes-over-land-for-membership-gaffe.txt"
published: "2023-08-16T19:43:29+00:00"
modified: "2023-08-16T19:43:29+00:00"
author: "penny2"
categories:
  - "Uncategorized"
tags:
  - "NATO"
  - "Russia"
  - "Ukraine"
  - "US"
site_name: "PFYT2"
publisher: ""
language: "en-US"
generator: "easyPress Markdown"
generator_version: "1.0.6"
---
[**This isn’t a gaffe. And it’s not the first time it’s been said either.**](https://www.politico.eu/article/nato-ukraine-membership-cede-territory-russia/)

BRUSSELS — **NATO was in cleanup mode Wednesday after a senior official sparked a dust-up over his suggestion that Ukraine could cede territory to Russia in exchange for NATO membership.**

The controversy started Tuesday when S**tian Jenssen, director of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s private office, said one solution to the ongoing war could be for Ukraine to offer Russia land in return for a spot in the NATO military alliance.**

Within hours, Ukraine was expressing outrage, diplomats were doing double takes and Moscow was putting it all through the Kremlin’s spin machine.

**“Trading territory for a NATO umbrella? It is ridiculous,”** [tweeted](https://twitter.com/Podolyak_M/status/1691478223542984706?s=20) Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office.

**Recall this one?**

> [Ukraine Can Join NATO, Piece by Piece- Not Impossible](https://pennyforyourthoughts2.ca/2023/07/13/ukraine-can-join-nato-piece-by-piece-not-impossible/)