The war in Ukraine may end with an agreement on guarantees of security and preservation of Russia's control over the occupied territories

The war in Ukraine could conclude with an agreement granting Kyiv robust security guarantees while allowing Moscow to retain de facto, but not de jure, control over occupied territories. This scenario is being increasingly discussed not only by Western but also by Ukrainian officials, the Financial Times reported.

The publication noted that neither Kyiv nor its allies are willing to recognize Russia's sovereignty over the occupied regions, as doing so would encourage further Russian aggression and significantly undermine international law. Instead, a "tacit agreement" is being proposed, implying that these lands would eventually be returned through diplomatic means in the future.

“Ceding territory in exchange for NATO membership might be ‘the only game in town,’ as one Western diplomat told us, but for Ukrainians, this remains a taboo, at least publicly,” the Financial Times wrote.

Discussions around the so-called “West German model” for Ukraine, where West Germany was a NATO member from 1955 while East Germany remained under Moscow’s control until 1989, have been ongoing in foreign policy circles for over a year and a half, according to the report.

Former U.S. Special Representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker, former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and current Czech President Petr Pavel are among the officials who have mentioned this model as a possible path for Ukraine.