Zelensky Says US Suggested Trading Donbas for NATO Membership

A new and politically explosive idea surfaced in US-led diplomacy this week: whether Ukraine might trade a retreat from the Donbas for a path into NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed.

Speaking in remarks to reporters released by his office, Mr Zelensky said it was the first time during peace talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi that negotiators had explicitly tied NATO membership to potential territorial concessions.

“The Americans raised a question: ‘What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?” he said.

“That is why I believe NATO is back on the agenda. But you have also heard (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s signals, and this is an extremely difficult conversation.”

Volodymyr Zelensky speaking in Dublin with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff

Mr Zelensky said Kyiv was discussing “specific security guarantees from NATO and the EU” and stressed that any decision of that magnitude would require public consent at home. If western partners confirmed such guarantees, he said, “then I will ask our Ukrainian society what it thinks: do we accept it or not? I have no right to make that decision on my own”.

He argued that, in practical terms, only the EU and NATO provide genuine protection for the continent, warning that the Kremlin’s push to reshape Europe’s security order risks fuelling further conflict.

“This is dangerous because, in my view, it is precisely things like this that lead to wars or escalations,” Mr Zelensky said.

“Real security in Europe means the EU and NATO. That’s it. There is no other security in Europe.”

Mr Putin has repeatedly described Ukrainian membership of NATO as a redline for Moscow and has cited the issue as one of the reasons behind Russia’s full-blown invasion in 2022.

While reiterating that Kyiv is not prepared to give up territory, Mr Zelensky said he would consider putting the question to a national referendum if Ukraine received a comprehensive package — security ‌guarantees, the right to maintain a strong and well-funded Ukrainian ⁠army and funds to rebuild.

‘This war must be ended first’

Mr Zelensky also rejected Russia’s insistence that a sweeping deal on Europe’s overall security architecture should come before agreement on ending the war in Ukraine, echoing comments from European leaders at the EPC summit in Dublin.

Vladimir Putin has long said Ukrainian membership of NATO is a red line for Russia

“We cannot turn everything upside down and start by talking about changing the security framework in the world or across the continent overall, and only then talk about ending this war. This war ‌must be ended first,” he said.

He likewise brushed aside Mr Putin’s proposal for a local humanitarian ceasefire in Kostiantynivka — a fiercely contested city in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region — saying the offer underscored Moscow’s failure to seize the city militarily.

Civilians in Kostiantynivka have already ⁠been given the opportunity to evacuate, he added.

“Putin simply wants us to leave Kostiantynivka so that they can move in and occupy the entire city that ‌way,” he said.

Ukraine, he said, has submitted a list of seven or eight other frontline settlements where civilians, including children, are ⁠trapped and where a humanitarian ‌truce could be applied, but Russia prefers to treat such places as military targets.

Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians in the war.

Large prisoner exchange agreed

Two days of US-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia ended on Wednesday in the Emirati capital without a major breakthrough, Mr Zelensky said, but the delegations did agree to a prisoner exchange involving more than 1,000 people.

The final figures for the prisoner ⁠swap were still being negotiated, he added.

US peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had said they would raise an energy ceasefire with Mr Putin at a meeting in Moscow on Thursday, ⁠Mr Zelensky said, but no progress was reported after their talks.

“Putin personally does not support a ceasefire,” he said.

Mr Zelensky met Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner on Thursday in Ireland following their Moscow talks. He said the US negotiators told him that all sides had agreed Europe would have a seat at the negotiating table in upcoming peace talks.

In Abu Dhabi, European delegates — from a region that has now become Ukraine’s largest financial and military backer — held discussions with US and Ukrainian officials, but did not sit opposite Russia.

European leaders met in Dublin this week to discuss a range of issues

Mr Zelensky also said Russia is “betting everything” on this winter’s campaign, and urged a US military package that would increase pressure on Mr Putin to end the fighting.

“They are betting everything on this winter,” Mr Zelensky said. He argued that US Congress passing legislation on “sanctions and weapons” would be “the kind of motivation Putin needs” to de-escalate.

His comments came as EU leaders agreed Europe would be represented at the next Ukraine peace talks by the E5 — Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Poland — alongside the bloc’s institutions.

Direct European participation would signal a new stage in attempts to end the nearly five-year-old conflict, which has resisted efforts by US President Donald Trump to secure a peace agreement.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned that the “path to peace” would be difficult.

At the close of the informal meeting of the EU Council in Dublin yesterday, she said: “The best way to get Russia to the table is to keep up our support for Ukraine and to keep maximum pressure on Russia.

“This is why we will soon propose our 22nd package of sanctions, and before the next European Council, the commission will come forward with a proposal to close the financing gap in Ukraine for 2027.

“Let me be clear, the path to peace will not be easy but we will remain united – as we’ve been over the last five years – in our support for Ukraine and with the end goal clear in our minds.”