INTERNATIONAL DESK — US negotiators have raised the idea of Ukraine withdrawing from the eastern Donbas region in exchange for NATO membership, President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed Friday, the first time such a proposal has been put forward in peace talks. “The Americans raised a question: What if Ukraine joins NATO?
Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?” Zelensky told reporters, adding that NATO is “back on the agenda.” Much of the Donbas is controlled by Russia, though Moscow’s offensive there has largely stalled. Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine wouldn’t surrender territory, but said if Kyiv received a “comprehensive security package” including a strong army, NATO, and EU guarantees, and reconstruction funds, he would put the question to a national referendum. “I have no right to make that decision on my own,” he said, emphasising that any deal wouldn’t recognise occupied territories as Russian.
The comments followed two days of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi between Ukraine and Russia, mediated by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, that ended without a breakthrough, though the sides agreed to exchange more than 1,000 prisoners each. Witkoff and Kushner then met Zelensky in Dublin and Putin in Moscow. Zelensky also warned that a new European security framework floated by the US could benefit Putin, who he said seeks to redraw borders, weaken NATO and push for American troop withdrawals from the Baltics.