Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said US representatives had asked whether Ukraine would withdraw from Donbas in exchange for joining NATO. He described it as the first time the question had been raised, while emphasizing that no decision had been made. His remarks were reported by Euronews.
“What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?” Zelenskyy said the Americans had asked. He added that Ukraine was discussing specific security guarantees from NATO and the European Union.
Zelenskyy said he would ask Ukrainians whether they accepted the terms if Western countries confirmed them. “I have no right to make that decision on my own,” he said.
The remarks came as diplomatic efforts to end the war continued. Russian President Vladimir Putin met US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow earlier in the week. Putin signalled that Russia would not abandon its territorial demands and rejected the deployment of foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine.
Witkoff and Kushner later met Zelenskyy in Ireland on Thursday. Kushner said Europe would have a “voice” in future peace negotiations, adding that talks could address wider European security arrangements alongside territorial issues between Ukraine and Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Friday that, as far as her department knew, Europe’s role had not been discussed in the Moscow talks. Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said the European position had been outlined, and accused European countries of seeking to join negotiations while questioning whether they wanted peace or continued war.
Clayton Ward