Ukraine war latest: ‘Article 5 cannot apply to entire territory of Ukraine during wartime,’ Zelensky says on potential NATO invite

Key Development on Nov. 30 – Dec. 1:
If Ukraine were to join NATO, the alliance’s Article 5 collective defense principle may not apply to Ukrainian territories facing active combat, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 1.
“We understand that Article 5, when you’re a member of NATO, cannot apply to the entire territory of Ukraine during wartime, as countries are against the risks of being drawn into the war,” Zelensky said during a news conference alongside Antonio Costa, the new President of the European Council, referring to occupied territory.
Zelensky’s comments come as Ukraine has been urging NATO allies to invite Ukraine to join the alliance as early as next week, during the NATO Foreign Ministerial Meeting on Dec. 3-4.
“We believe that the invitation should be extended at this stage,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on Nov. 29.
Earlier this week, Zelensky also suggested ending the “hot phase” of war along Ukraine’s eastern front in exchange for NATO membership, not immediately including occupied territories.
“If we want to stop the hot stage of the war, we should quickly take under NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control. That’s what we need to do first, and then Ukraine can get back the other parts of its territory in a diplomatic way,” Zelensky said during an interview published on Nov. 29.
Clarifying those comments on Dec. 1, Zelensky said that no matter the concessions Ukraine makes to end the war, the entirety of the country must nonetheless be invited into the alliance.
“There cannot be an invitation to NATO for only part of Ukraine’s territory. This would automatically mean recognizing that all other territories are not only at risk but also not Ukrainian. Therefore, Ukraine will never agree to this. If there is an invitation, it must include all of Ukraine’s territories.”
Kyiv submitted its application to join NATO in September 2022, and in July 2024, the alliance affirmed Ukraine’s “irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership” — although Ukraine has not received any definitive news about its future accession.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s election has intensified uncertainty around Ukraine’s accession into the military alliance. Some reports also indicate this would entail forcing Ukraine to cede territory and at least temporarily give up on its NATO accession plans.
Throughout the U.S. election campaign, NATO allies concerned about the prospects of the Unites States’ support for NATO under a Trump administration led some of the alliance members to attempt to “Trump-proof” long-term aid for Ukraine, as well as reinforce the principle of collective defense.
In February, Trump said that we would let Russia do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO member countries failing to meet defense spending criteria, while encouraging countries to spend more on defense.
The Russian army suffered record losses in military equipment and personnel in November in the war against Ukraine, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry reported on Dec. 1.
Russian losses at the front increased significantly in the fall, while Russia continued to advance in the Donetsk sector, aiming to capture the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.
In November, 45,720 Russian soldiers were wounded, killed, or captured and thus unable to continue participating in combat operations. This number is equivalent to more than three motorized rifle divisions of the Russian army, according to the ministry.
November also saw the record broken for the enemy personnel losses in one day with 2,030, the highest figure since Feb. 24, 2022.
In November, Ukrainian forces also destroyed 307 Russian tanks, 899 armored combat vehicles, and 884 pieces of artillery.
According to the ministry’s calculations, Russia’s lost weapons and equipment in November is estimated to be worth over $3 billion, which is more than in September and October.
As of the morning of Dec. 1, the Russian army had lost about 742,130 soldiers, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Over the past day, Russian losses amounted to 1,730 people.
Ukraine destroyed three Russian high-value radar stations in Russian-occupied Crimea on Nov. 29, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) reported on Nov. 30.
The radars include two 48Y6-K1 Podlet systems worth $5 million each and one Kasta-2E2 radar, estimated to cost around $30 million.
Both Kasta and Podlet are modern mobile radar systems designed to detect air targets at low and extremely low altitudes.
The report came just a day after HUR claimed to have struck another Podlet radar system in Crimea on Nov. 28.
HUR claimed to be behind both operations but didn’t provide details. The Kyiv Independent couldn’t verify the claims.
Multiple explosions were reported across Crimea over the past week, with Russian proxies claiming to have downed Ukrainian missiles and drones.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian military and industrial targets in Sevastopol and elsewhere in the occupied peninsula during the full-scale war.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly held multiple phone conversations with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban since Nov. 5, sources speaking to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Hungarian Service acknowledged.
Hungarian government insiders revealed that Trump sought Orban’s opinion on strategies to end the Ukraine war.
During his campaign, Trump criticized the billions of dollars the U.S. has allocated to Ukraine and claimed he could end the war within 24 hours of returning to the White House. Observers interpret his remarks as implying that Ukraine might need to cede territory currently under Russian control.
Orban, known for his close ties with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump, has openly criticized EU aid for Ukraine and obstructed sanctions against Moscow.
Reports indicate Orban is preparing for a second peace mission in December, which aims to conclude Hungary’s rotating EU presidency.
In July, he initiated his first mission with a trip to Kyiv carrying a cease-fire proposal for President Volodymyr Zelensky, followed by a controversial meeting with Putin in Moscow. Orban later traveled to China and then the U.S. to meet Trump while he was campaigning.
Sources noted to RFE/RL that the December peace mission may involve Orban delivering messages from Trump to Zelensky, Putin, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. However, the specific details of the plan remain unclear.
Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the Russian budget on Dec. 1, which plans for record levels military spending over the next three years.
The Russian State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, passed the law on the federal budget for 2025 and the planning period of 2026-2027 in November.
According to the law signed by Putin, in 2025, national defense spending will reach a record 13.5 trillion rubles ($126 billion), more than 6% of Russia’s GDP.
Spending on war and law enforcement agencies exceeds expenditures on education, healthcare, social policy, and the national economy combined.
The new three-year budget envisages that military spending will be slightly lower in 2026-2027: 12.8 trillion rubles ($114.9 billion) in 2026 and 13.1 trillion rubles ($122.4 billion) in 2027.
The total expenditures of the Russian budget next year are planned at 41.47 trillion rubles ($387.3 billion), accounting for 19.3% of GDP. This is 1.17 trillion rubles ($15.9 billion) more than the expected revenues.
The budget deficit is expected to be 2.18 trillion rubles ($20.3 billion) and 2.76 trillion rubles ($25.8 billion), respectively, in 2026 and 2027.
On Nov. 28, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed law on Ukraine’s own state budget for 2025.
The budget for 2025 envisages spending Hr 2.2 trillion ($53 billion) on Ukraine’s defense, which is 26.3% of the country’s projected gross domestic product (GDP).
On Nov. 12, Strategic Industries Minister Herman Smetanin said the budget envisages Hr 55 billion ($1.3 billion) for weapons production.
Some Hr 54.55 billion ($1.3 billion) will be directly allocated for the development and implementation of new technologies and the expansion of defense production capacity, according to Smetanin.
The minister added that the 2025 figure is almost Hr 3.5 billion ($84.4 million) more than in 2024.