Europe
Zelensky: US negotiators asked for the first time whether Ukraine would leave Donbas in exchange for NATO membership
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on November 14 that US negotiators asked for the first time if Ukraine would withdraw from Donbas in return for NATO membership. He said any comprehensive deal would go to a referendum.
US negotiators asked Kyiv for the first time whether it would withdraw from Donbas in exchange for Ukraine’s accession to NATO, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed in remarks to reporters published on Saturday, November 14. “The Americans posed a question: ‘What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?’” he said, noting it was the first time anything like this had been put. Zelensky said that if a comprehensive deal emerges, he will put it to a referendum.
The Ukrainian president repeated Kyiv’s position that it is not willing to cede territory to Russia. For a comprehensive deal to go to the people, however, he set specific conditions: security guarantees, a strong and well-funded army without restrictions, and funds to rebuild the country. The American question, he said, makes him think that “NATO is returning to the agenda.” “But you have also heard Putin’s messages, and it is an extremely difficult discussion,” he added. Until now, US officials had said Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance was not under consideration.
After Moscow and Dublin
The remarks come after Zelensky met US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Dublin on Thursday, November 12, which followed their talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Russia controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including most of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up Donbas. Moscow insistently demands the remainder of the region, as well as limits on the size of the Ukrainian army and Ukrainian neutrality. Kyiv rejects these terms, arguing they would limit its ability to repel a future invasion.
Zelensky also warned about Moscow’s plans to change Europe’s security architecture, after Putin’s demand that NATO pull its troops back from Russia’s borders. “This is dangerous, because in my view it is exactly such things that lead to wars or escalation,” he said. “Real security in Europe means the EU and NATO. Full stop. There is no other security in Europe.” On Friday the European Union decided to send a joint team to the Ukraine negotiations (our report), with diplomats from Germany, France, Britain and Poland, among others, although Moscow has long insisted that European countries stay out.
Zelensky has said in the past that he would be willing to step down from the presidency in exchange for NATO membership, and that elections could be held within a few months of a peace deal. Elections have been suspended while martial law remains in force in Ukraine.
