Photo: President Volodymyr Zelensky — AP Photo via AAP
US negotiators have raised the idea of Ukraine withdrawing its remaining forces from the eastern Donbas region in exchange for joining NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said — the first time Washington has put the question to Kyiv in the peace talks with Russia.
Zelensky described it, in remarks to reporters on Friday released by his office on Saturday, as a question raised in discussion — not a formal signed offer, and Washington has announced no such offer publicly.
- Zelensky: "What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?" — the first time the idea was raised
- Kyiv still says it is unwilling to retreat from its own territory
- A full proposal would go to a referendum only with security guarantees, no limits on Ukraine's army and rebuild funds
What Zelensky says the Americans asked
"The Americans raised a question: 'What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?' This was the first time this had been raised," Zelensky said.
"That is why I believe NATO is back on the agenda. But you have also heard Putin's signals, and this is an extremely difficult conversation," he added. US officials had previously said Ukrainian NATO membership was off the table.
The remarks followed two days of talks in Abu Dhabi, after which US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner briefed Putin in Moscow and then met Zelensky in Dublin.
Kyiv's conditions and Russia's position
Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine was unwilling to give up sovereign territory, despite Moscow's demands that it cede the Donbas. Russia occupies roughly a fifth of Ukraine, including most of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbas.
If a proposal carried specific security guarantees from NATO and the EU, no constraints on Ukraine's military and funds to rebuild, he said, he would put it to the Ukrainian people: "I have no right to make that decision on my own."
What happens next
More talks are planned, and Kushner said Russia has agreed to include European countries in the upcoming rounds. Kyiv has long sought NATO membership as a guarantee against future attacks, while Moscow says another NATO member on its border is unacceptable.
Sources: Punch; AAP (Associated Press/dpa reporting); Geneva Times; Rapporteur. Follow @newstweetnaija for more.
