By Friederike Heine, Matthias Williams and Olena Harmash BERLIN/KYIV, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Ukraine has relinquished its ambition of joining the NATO military alliance in exchange for Western security guarantees as a compromise to end the war with Russia,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed willingness to drop Ukraine's NATO aspirations in exchange for Western security guarantees. But he rejected the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia.

The Trump administration has offered Ukraine security guarantees similar to those it would receive from NATO

Former Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said after the Ukraine war, Europe must be ready for further Russian aggression.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie fielded a bill to remove the U.S. from NATO, putting forward a companion measure after Sen. Mike Lee introduced a bill earlier this year.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Wednesday introduced a bill that would pull the United States out of the NATO alliance. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said she would co-sponsor the bill, while Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has introduced companion legislation in the upper chamber.

Secretary-General Mark Rutte chastised some allies for moving too slowly when it comes to ramping up defense spending.

Attacks on civilian merchant shipping in the Black Sea expand the scope of the war and threaten to drag NATO members like Türkiye deeper into the maelstrom.