US negotiators have raised the idea of Ukraine giving up the whole eastern Donbas region in return for NATO membership, President Volodymyr Zelensky says. He said Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, put the question to him. Zelensky said on Saturday that this was the first time the idea had come up.
"The Americans raised a question: 'What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?'" Zelensky said in remarks released by his office. Al Jazeera reported that the idea first surfaced at the latest round of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi last week. Russia controls most of the industrial Donbas region, KBC reported. President Vladimir Putin has demanded the region as a condition for ending the war.
The US has not confirmed Zelensky's account. A US official told the BBC that "many ideas continue to be discussed but any final deal will have to be agreed to by both parties". After the Abu Dhabi round, Witkoff and Kushner met Putin in Moscow and then briefed Zelensky in Dublin, according to Al Jazeera. European leaders met in the Irish capital on Friday.
Zelensky repeated that Kyiv will not give up any territory. But he said he would hold a national referendum on the question if a peace deal offered three things: security guarantees, a strong and well-funded army and money to rebuild the country. He also pointed to the wider stakes. "Real security in Europe means the EU and NATO. That's it," he said.
Analysts who spoke to Al Jazeera doubt the plan can work. Ian Lesser of the German Marshall Fund said the NATO element "seems very doubtful" and that Moscow was unlikely to agree. He added that some NATO members would also have doubts. Chris Featherstone of the University of York called the proposal a surprise, given Trump's past attacks on NATO and his clashes with Zelensky. He said it looked like an attempt to test Ukraine's refusal to give up land.
Ukraine applied to join NATO in September 2022, months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion that February. The Kremlin has said Ukraine joining the alliance would bring "a harsh response". It has not yet responded to the latest US idea. NATO members remain divided on Ukraine's bid, Al Jazeera reported. Lithuania and Poland are among its strongest backers. Trump, by contrast, has publicly told Kyiv to give up hopes of joining.