Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was possible to reach consensus on security guarantees for Ukraine, but reiterating that Moscow will never accept Kiev’s NATO accession, according to Bloomberg.

Ukrainian leader Volodimir Zelenski has stated that security guarantees for his country, including a support for NATO model, which the allies could provide, must be part of any agreement to end the Russian invasion, which is now in its fourth year. Ukraine and its partners have intensified work on details of what they can offer to ensure that any agreement with Putin will be sustainable.

Russia has insisted that it should be part of any post -war security architecture, which Kiev rejects.

“There are options to ensure Ukraine’s security if the war is over,” Putin told Beijing Tuesday during a meeting with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitso. “It seems to me that it is possible to find consensus here,” he added, noting that the matter also arose in his talks with US President Donald Trump when the two leaders met in Alaska.

Putin said Russia is not opposed to Ukraine’s possible accession to the European Union, but its membership in NATO would be “unacceptable to us,” he said, even in the long run.

NATO Secretary -General Mark Rutte said that a powerful Ukrainian army with external guarantees would be necessary to protect the country.

“For peace to last, Ukraine needs not only its own powerful armed forces,” but also security guarantees by Kiev’s partners, Route said on Tuesday to reporters in Luxembourg. “The US, Europe and others are now defining them. As you know, we are discussing together in many different shapes. “

During his meeting with Fitso, Putin described the view that Moscow was a threat to Europe “absolute nonsense”.

“Hysteria is constantly maintained that Russia is supposedly planning to attack Europe,” he said. “This is a challenge or complete impotence.”

Rute had earlier estimated that Russia could consider an attack on the Alliance over the next five years, adopting the forecasts of German Chancellor Friedrich Mertz and several European intelligence services. These warnings have boosted pressure on NATO, especially under Trump’s influence, to push Member States to increase defense spending to the highest levels of the last decades

The Russian leader welcomed recent talks with Washington, saying that the US administration is listening to Moscow.

“We see that a mutual understanding emerges,” he said. “We are very happy about it and we hope that this constructive dialogue will continue.”

Trump took office by saying that he would quickly end the hostilities. As his efforts for a truce have stumbled upon, at times he threatens to extend sanctions against Russia. On Monday, US Finance Minister Scott Bessed told Fox News that officials would consider potential measures this week, and that “all options are on the table”.

Putin also told Fitso that Russia had discussed with its US counterparts to cooperate with the US and Ukrainians at the Zaporizia nuclear power plant, which was occupied by the Russian forces early in the war, “if favorable conditions occur”.

He also suggested that in Slovakia Russia could work with the US company Westinghouse on a nuclear energy project.

Slovakia, an enclosed country bordering Ukraine, has a long -term gas contract with Russian Gazprom that lasts until 2034. Although Ukraine crossing has stopped, the country continues to receive Russian gas through the Turkstream pipeline.