Zelenskyy says U.S. floated idea of Ukraine ceding Donbas for NATO membership

Proposal and possible conditions

Zelenskyy said U.S. negotiators had presented the idea of Ukraine pulling its remaining forces out of the eastern Donbas region in return for NATO membership. He has repeatedly said Ukraine will not give up sovereign territory.

Unchanged positions and doubts

Russia controls most of Donbas and roughly a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including most of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Russian officials have previously called for limits on Ukraine’s military, territorial concessions and guaranteed neutrality as conditions for peace.

Comments from Putin and Kremlin officials suggest Moscow’s position has not shifted. Other NATO members, as well as Ukraine itself, are wary of or consider unrealistic the prospect of Ukrainian membership, according to the report.

Talks and public pressure

The U.S. envoys’ meetings with Putin and Zelenskyy were part of efforts to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. It is possible the envoys were testing Kyiv’s limits on occupied land, or that Zelenskyy raised the idea publicly to revive a discussion thought nearly closed. Hours after Zelenskyy’s comments, Jared Kushner urged “confidentiality” in the sensitive process and referred to private discussions about ending what he called a “horrible war.” The talks follow strained ties between Kyiv and Washington over Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil facilities and Trump’s request that Ukraine pause them.