Dousing Ukraine's NATO hope, reports claim that US President Donald Trump has aligned with Russia's long-standing demand that Ukraine be kept away from the alliance. In that case, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shed light on what Ukraine's Plan B will be.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine will build NATO on its territory if it is not accepted into the Alliance. Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with The Economist on 11 February,

An alternative to Ukraine's accession to NATO is the deployment of NATO troops on Ukrainian territory. At the same time, Ukraine should have an army similar in size to Russia's, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says in an interview with The Guardian.

Russia controls just under 20% of Ukraine, or more than 112,000 square kilometres, while Ukraine controls around 450 square kilometres of the Kursk region, according to open-source maps of the battlef

The Kremlin said on Wednesday Russia will never discuss trading the Ukrainian territory it holds for areas in Russia's western Kursk region held by Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the Guardian newspaper that he planned to offer Russia a straight territory exchange to help bring an end to the war,