Stian Jenssen, who has held the title of director of the Private Office of the NATO Secretary General since 2017, reportedly made the suggestion while speaking on a recent panel in the Norwegian city of Arendal.

Ukrainian territory has been one of the driving forces in the war Russian President Vladimir Putin launched on Ukraine in February 2022.

Mykhailo Podoliak, Zelensky's top adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, denounced Jenssen's suggestion on X, formerly Twitter.

That means deliberately choosing the defeat of democracy, encouraging a global criminal, preserving the Russian regime, destroying international law, and passing the war on to other generations," Podoliak wrote.

A spokesperson for Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also publicly rejected the suggestion, calling Jenssen's proposal "absolutely unacceptable" in a statement posted on Facebook.

The conscious or unconscious participation of NATO officials in shaping the narrative regarding the possibility of Ukraine's giving up its territories plays into the hands of Russia," foreign ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko wrote in part.

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