Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said U.S. negotiators asked whether Ukraine would withdraw its forces from Donbas in exchange for NATO membership. He described it as the first time the possibility had been raised, but did not say Washington had made a formal offer.
“What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?” Zelensky said the Americans asked, according to Reuters. The question concerns a region in eastern Ukraine that has been partly occupied by Russia since the war began.
Zelensky said discussions also involved a wider security package for Ukraine. He described it as potentially including guarantees from NATO and the European Union, an adequate number of troops and weapons, and financial support.
If such measures were offered, Zelensky said he would ask Ukrainians whether to accept the possible arrangement. He did not specify whether that would mean holding a referendum, adding that he had “no right to make that decision on my own.”
He said Ukraine would need security guarantees modeled on NATO’s Article 5 as an “absolute minimum.” The article establishes the alliance’s principle that an attack on one member is treated as an attack on all. Zelensky said he was not sure such guarantees would necessarily work and wanted more specific details about possible NATO membership.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has previously demanded that Ukraine withdraw from Donbas as a condition for a peace deal. Russia claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions, including areas in the east, but the annexations have not been recognized by the United States or the United Nations.
Reid Bentley