According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais on Thursday, sources say NATO is considering increased security guarantees to Ukraine.

The promises include increased funding obligations, as well as consolidation and augmentation of military aid to construct a "deterrent shell" surrounding the country.

Read more: NATO says aiding Ukraine cost $165Bln in military funding since 2022

The paper cited sources within NATO detailing "Countries prefer to provide more limited 'assurance' or 'security measures'... These concepts imply a political commitment to support... and also mean consolidation and strengthening of the military assistance to form a deterrent shell around Ukraine."

Ian Brzezinski, a US foreign policy and military affairs expert, and former NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow, former US ambassador to Russia, proposed establishing a new NATO-Ukraine deterrence and defense partnership in a letter to NATO governments in which Ukraine would be armed and trained by NATO countries and given security assurances until it joins the alliance once the war is over.

In September, Zelensky revealed that Ukraine has applied to join NATO on a fast track. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin Spokesperson, said Moscow was closely following the situation and reminded that Kiev's inclination toward the alliance was one of the grounds for Russia's military operation in Ukraine to begin in February 2022.

Russia sees NATO expansion as a threat, especially since over the years, the Cold War-era alliance expanded eastward, putting Russian interests at risk. 

Last week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the Western military alliance's members are divided on what to do regarding Ukraine's bid to join.

"On that issue, there are different views in the alliance and of course, the only way to make decisions in NATO is by consensus," Stoltenberg told a conference in Brussels. 

Ukraine -- backed by NATO countries in eastern Europe -- is urging a "clear message" at a July summit of alliance leaders in Lithuania's capital Vilnius that it will join after the war ends. 

Time running out for Zelenzky to win the war 

Retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik on May 21 that the Russian forces' control over the important transport hub of Bakhmut on May 20 marks a critical turning point in the battle between Kiev and Moscow.

The control of Bakhmut demonstrates that Ukraine's political leadership's approach has failed because what happened there will be directly blamed on Zelensky and his remaining cadre, Kwiatkowski said.

For months, the besieged city of Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) had been the hub of warfare between Russia and Ukraine. The hard-fought city was finally seized on May 20 by assault units of the Wagner Group private military company (PMC) and the Russian armed forces.

The fact that Russian troops proved to be highly successful in expelling the Ukrainian armed forces from Bakhmut points to a “decisive change along the dividing line between Ukraine and Russia”, Kwiatkowski explained.