Zelensky says US raised Ukraine NATO-for-Donbas idea

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United States raised for the first time whether Ukraine could join NATO if it withdrew from Donbas, while insisting Kyiv would not recognise any land seized by Russia as Russian.

“The Americans raised a question: ‘What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?’ This was the first time this had been raised,” Zelensky said in comments released Saturday.

He said Ukraine's relationship with NATO was “back on the agenda” and argued that Ukraine, with almost five years of combat experience, could make the alliance stronger. NATO and Washington had not commented on the remarks.

Zelensky said Kyiv was discussing specific security guarantees from Western countries. Before agreeing to any terms, he said, he would ask Ukrainians whether they accepted them.

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky on Thursday after two days of talks in Abu Dhabi that ended without a breakthrough. The talks did lead to agreements that European countries would join future negotiations on ending the war. In Dublin on Friday, France, Germany, Italy, the UK and Poland were chosen to send representatives.

Zelensky said efforts to end the war must come before any discussion of changing Europe's security framework. He warned that Moscow's idea of redistributing power in Europe was “very dangerous” and said Russia was “betting everything” on this winter's military campaign.

He also said Moscow rejected an energy ceasefire at the Abu Dhabi talks. Putin ruled out agreeing to foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, and the Kremlin has ruled out wider ceasefires during the negotiations.

Zelensky said Putin's proposal for a “humanitarian” mission to the eastern town of Kostyantynivka was a ploy to make Ukrainian forces withdraw and open the road for Russian troops to take more settlements in Donbas. Moscow announced in summer that it had seized Kostyantynivka, while Kyiv says fighting there continues.