Most residents of Ukraine favor joining NATO, excluding the occupied territories.

As of November 2024, over 70% of Ukrainians supported the gradual entry of Ukraine into NATO, similar to the divided Germany in the 1950s.

According to a report by “European Truth,” this information is based on a survey conducted by Info Sapiens on behalf of the “New Europe” center from November 15 to 27, 2024.

The research indicated that 70.3% of respondents viewed positively the scenario in which NATO invites Ukraine to join the alliance within its internationally recognized borders.

However, the application of Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which guarantees collective defense, will initially not cover territories occupied by Russia. Similarly, the Federal Republic of Germany joined NATO in 1955, while the eastern German territories became part of the alliance only nearly four decades later, after the country was reunified.

A significant difference in this approach for Ukraine will be that the country must receive an invitation to NATO within its internationally recognized borders, including the occupied regions, as noted by the “New Europe” center.

In October, the Financial Times reported, citing informed sources, that one of the proposals being considered in the West to conclude the active phase of the war and prevent new aggression from Russia is the admission of Ukraine to NATO following the model of West Germany.

According to the plan, Russia will retain actual control over the occupied territories, which will remain legally part of Ukraine. Their return will be possible through diplomatic means in the future.

One Western diplomat told the FT that this option is the only realistic way to ensure Ukraine's membership in the alliance.

The invitation for Ukraine to join NATO was the first point in the “victory plan” proposed by President Volodymyr Zelensky in October. Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated at that time that Ukraine could join the alliance under a “German scenario.”

At the end of November, Zelensky remarked that the active phase of the war would only conclude when all territories under Ukraine’s control are protected by NATO. He emphasized that he categorically rejects the idea of partial entry into the alliance, as it would call into question the status of the occupied territories. In the president's view, NATO membership is the only way to guarantee that Putin will not resume the war.