AFP
This handout video grab taken and released by the Ukraine Presidency press service on March 7 shows Volodymyr Zelensky speaking in the capital Kiev.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is no longer pressing for NATO membership for Ukraine, a delicate issue that was one of Russia's stated reasons for its military operation.
In another apparent nod aimed at placating Moscow, Zelensky said he is open to "compromise" on the status of two breakaway pro-Russian territories that President Vladimir Putin recognized as independent.
"I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago after we understood that ... NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine," Zelensky said in an interview aired on Monday night on ABC News.
"The alliance is afraid of controversial things, and confrontation with Russia," the president added.
Referring to NATO membership, Zelensky said through an interpreter that he does not want to be president of a "country which is begging something on its knees."
Russia has said it does not want neighboring Ukraine to join NATO.
In more recent years the alliance has expanded further and further east to take in former Soviet bloc countries, infuriating the Kremlin.
Russia sees NATO enlargement as a threat, as it does the military posture of these new Western allies on its doorstep.
When ABC asked him about this Russian demand, Zelensky said he was open to dialogue.
"I'm talking about security guarantees," he said.
He said these two regions "have not been recognized by anyone but Russia ... But we can discuss and find the compromise on how these territories will live on."
"So the question is more difficult than simply acknowledging them," the president said.