Ukraine insisted Tuesday that NATO membership was the only "real guarantee" for its security as foreign ministers from the alliance looked set to rebuff Kyiv's push for an invite ahead of Donald Trump's return to the US presidency.
Trump has vowed to press for a quick deal to end Russia's war, leaving Kyiv scrambling to position itself ahead of his January inauguration.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said getting security guarantees from the Western alliance and supplies of key weaponry are prerequisites for Kyiv to start talking about halting its fight.
"We are convinced that the only real guarantee of security for Ukraine, as well as a deterrent to further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other states, is Ukraine's full membership in NATO," the foreign ministry in Kyiv said.
Zelensky said Sunday that Kyiv was hoping NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels with Ukraine's top diplomat would issue "recommendations" to grant his country a membership invitation.
"But we have no illusions -- there are some sceptical countries," he said.
Until now, the leaders of NATO heavyweights the United States and Germany have backed away from Ukrainian membership out of fear it could drag the alliance into a war with Russia.
Diplomats said that with the administration of US President Joe Biden on its way out and Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz's future in doubt ahead of elections, Kyiv hoped their foreign ministers could have more leeway.
But US officials in private say the Biden administration will not back Ukraine's push as they believe any offer would be rescinded by the president-elect.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte pushed away questions over Ukraine's possible membership and how it could play into any peace deal, saying the alliance needed to "concentrate" on getting more weapons to Kyiv.
"I would now argue that Ukraine doesn't need more ideas on what a peace process could look like," Rutte said.
"Make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to get to a position of strength when those peace talks start."
Trump has said he could end Russia's war in Ukraine in a matter of hours, but has given no details on how he intends to achieve that goal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned against any moves to place Ukraine under NATO's security umbrella.
"Such a potential decision is unacceptable to us," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Trump's new envoy on the Ukraine war, Keith Kellogg, has floated shelving Ukraine's longstanding NATO ambitions as part of a peace deal -- while still providing Kyiv security guarantees.
Rutte warned the incoming US administration that if Ukraine got a "bad deal" it risked emboldening American rivals such as China and North Korea.
"Whenever we get to a deal on Ukraine, it has to be a good deal," he said.
While moving Ukraine closer to the alliance appears unlikely right now, two Western diplomats said initial discussions had begun on whether European troops could be deployed to enforce any eventual ceasefire.
"In many countries, there is very serious thinking on various possible scenarios and how we can contribute to security guarantees," a European diplomat said.
"We need to be able to have an idea to communicate to the US."
As Ukraine presses on the diplomatic side, its forces are buckling across the eastern front in the face of Russia's grinding offensive.
Russia said Tuesday that it had captured two more southeastern villages, while Ukraine said it had repelled a push across a key river.
Kyiv is looking to wring all the weaponry it can from the Biden administration amid fears Trump will cut aid.
Washington on Monday announced an additional $725 million military aid package for Ukraine.
Kyiv has called on allies to provide air defence systems capable of shooting down the new Oreshnik experimental ballistic missile fired by Moscow.
Those include the American Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and the Arrow system developed by Israel and the US, officials said.
NATO diplomats said they doubted Washington would move quickly to provide Ukraine the new systems, given how long it took Biden to give the green light on delivering less-modern Patriot defences.
