In brief

• Zelensky says US negotiators floated Ukraine leaving the Donbas in exchange for NATO membership.
• The idea was raised after US envoys held talks in Moscow with Putin and in Dublin with Zelensky.
• Kyiv refuses to give up sovereign territory, while Moscow still demands control of the Donbas.

US proposal raised after Moscow and Dublin talks

Zelensky said on Saturday that American negotiators had put forward a scenario in which Ukraine would pull its last troops out of the eastern Donbas in return for joining NATO (Zelenski asegura que EE UU sugiere admitir a Ucrania en la OTAN a cambio de entregar el Donbás a Rusia – EL PAÍS) (US has floated Ukraine ceding Donbas for Nato membership, Zelensky says – BBC News). According to him, this was the first time the idea had been presented to Kyiv in that form (Zelenskyy: US proposes NATO membership in exchange for Donbas withdrawal for the first time – msn.com).

The statement followed a visit by US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow before flying to Dublin to see Zelensky. Talks in Abu Dhabi earlier in the week were part of the same diplomatic effort, according to France 24 (US negotiators suggest Ukraine cedes territory in exchange for NATO membership – France 24).

Kyiv's position

Zelensky said that if Ukraine received a proposal with security guarantees, no restrictions on its armed forces and funding for reconstruction, he would put it to a referendum. He has repeatedly said Ukraine will not surrender sovereign territory, even as Moscow demands that Kyiv cede the Donbas.

Kyiv has long treated NATO membership as a condition of any settlement, arguing it would deter future attacks. Russia has said a further NATO member on its border is unacceptable.

Russia's stance

Comments from Putin and Kremlin officials suggest Moscow still insists on control of the Donbas as part of any deal. The arrangement proposed by Washington would therefore tie the territorial question to the alliance question, a sequence Kyiv has so far refused to accept.

Read also

• Zelensky says US asked whether Ukraine would leave Donbas if it joins NATO
• US asked Kyiv whether it would give up Donbas for NATO membership, Zelensky says