KYIV, Ukraine — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said U.S. negotiators asked for the first time whether Ukraine would withdraw from Donbas if it joined NATO, according to The Associated Press. He spoke to journalists on Friday, and his office released the remarks on Saturday.
“The Americans raised a question: ‘What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?’ This was the first time this had been raised,” Zelenskyy said.
His position, he stressed, has not changed. “I have repeatedly stated that Ukraine will not surrender and will not cede its territories to terrorists,” he said, and any discussion would be, in his words, “without any recognition of the territories occupied by Russia.”
Zelenskyy did not rule out putting a proposal to Ukrainians. He said he would do so only if the American side confirmed a comprehensive security package together with other NATO partners.
That package, as he described it, is still being discussed with partners. It would include specific security guarantees from NATO and the European Union, a strong Ukrainian army — an adequate number of troops, weapons and financial support for a specified period — and a Prosperity Plan, or Recovery Plan, backed by funding with clearly identified sources.
“If the American side confirms precisely this to us, together with other NATO partners, 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,” Zelenskyy said. “But we need specifics, and we don’t have them yet. All of this is still under discussion.”
The question, on his account, was a question, not a formal offer, and Washington has not publicly confirmed it. U.S. officials had previously said Ukrainian NATO membership was off the table.
“That is why I believe NATO is back on the agenda,” Zelenskyy said. “But you have also heard (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s signals, and this is an extremely difficult conversation.”
His remarks followed two days of U.S.-brokered talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Abu Dhabi. Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner then met Putin in Moscow before briefing Zelenskyy in Dublin, where he was meeting European leaders.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede Donbas, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and Moscow has long said a NATO member on its border is unacceptable. Russia now occupies most of both regions, while Ukraine still holds part of Donetsk.