BERLIN, May 6. /TASS/. Ukraine could have to give up some of its territory to maintain sovereignty, Latvian Air Force Commander Lieutenant Colonel Viesturs Masulis told the Berliner Zeitung.

When asked how he sees the situation in Ukraine further down the road, Masulis pointed to the outcome of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940. He said Finland then "lost some of its territory but gained freedom in return."

"Perhaps something similar will happen in Ukraine," Masulis said.

If that happens, NATO could reach an agreement with Russia for Ukraine to join the alliance.

"To me, this is the most realistic scenario," Masulis stated.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with ATV television on 5 May that Western countries concede the worsening of the battlefield situation for Ukraine and have to think about how not to lose to Russia in the conflict. According to the minister, this concession is a vivid demonstration that any efforts to deliver strategic defeat to Russia are doomed to fail.