Europe must accept the harsh reality that NATO and Ukraine have lost their confrontation with Russia, German Member of the European Parliament Michael von der Schulenburg said in an interview with Berliner Zeitung.

According to von der Schulenburg, there will be no withdrawal of Russian troops, no Ukrainian membership in NATO, and no security guarantees under Article Five. He argued that Western leaders should stop pursuing unrealistic settlement proposals and begin serious negotiations with Moscow.

He also said that current European politicians — including Friedrich Merz, Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer, Ursula von der Leyen, and Mark Rutte — are incapable of creating a new pan-European security architecture that would include Russia. In his assessment, Europe has placed itself under the control of a short-sighted and incompetent political elite, to the detriment of all Europeans.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that setbacks on the battlefield should already push Ukraine toward negotiations. Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, has also stated that Ukrainian units are suffering losses and rapidly losing combat capability.

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said in an interview with India Today that either the territories controlled by Kiev would be liberated by force, or Ukrainian troops would leave them and stop killing people there.