Zelenskyy: US asked if Ukraine would trade Donbas for NATO membership

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said US negotiators asked whether Ukraine would withdraw its remaining forces from the Donbas region in exchange for NATO membership, the first time the question has been raised in peace talks.

Zelenskyy made the comments on November 13. His office released them on Saturday. The question came after the latest round of talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi.

US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner asked whether Ukraine was willing to give up the Donbas in exchange for NATO membership or NATO-like security guarantees, Zelenskyy said. He described the American question as: "What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?"

Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine rejects territorial concessions. But he said a comprehensive security package — including guarantees from NATO and the EU, a sufficiently equipped and funded Ukrainian military, and a long-term economic recovery plan — could be presented to Ukrainian society for consideration. Ukrainians would have the final say on any deal involving the Donbas, he said, provided the US and NATO allies agree to that security package.

The disclosure matters because it marks the first time the question of linking NATO membership to territorial concessions has surfaced in the talks. If the US is genuinely linking the two, it would represent a shift in Western diplomacy: trading Ukraine's long-sought alliance membership against land Russia has been unable to take militarily.

Russia controls most of the Donbas, an industrial region comprising Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts that Russian forces have been unable to fully capture since 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin has long said Ukrainian NATO membership is a red line for Moscow, citing it as one reason for launching the full-scale invasion in 2022.

Zelenskyy's decision to disclose the proposal publicly suggests he is testing reactions rather than accepting or rejecting it outright. The US has not announced a formal proposal. It is not known whether NATO allies would agree to admit a Ukraine that has ceded territory, or whether Russia would accept a NATO member on its border even without the Donbas.