US suggested Ukraine could give up Donbas for NATO membership, Zelenskyy says

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The U.S. has floated the idea of Ukraine joining NATO in exchange for withdrawing from its eastern Donbas region as part of negotiations to end the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday.

“The Americans raised a question: ‘What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?’ This was the first time this had been raised,” Zelenskyy told reporters on Friday, a day after he met with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Dublin. 

The Donbas region in Ukraine’s far east borders Russia, and Moscow declared it had annexed the region in 2022 after its full-scale invasion. The vast majority of the region is occupied by Russian troops.

Giving up Donbas has long been part of the proposals put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, including the 28-part plan for a peace agreement proposed by the White House in 2025. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously demanded that Ukraine abandon its efforts to join NATO and accept strict limits on the size of its military.

“I have said repeatedly: Ukraine is not retreating and is not giving up its land to terrorists,” Zelenskyy told reporters.

The White House and U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Zelenskyy said he was discussing a “comprehensive security package” with partners that would include specific guarantees from NATO and the EU, a strong Ukrainian army with adequate troops, weapons and financial support for a set period and a recovery plan with clear funding attached. 

“If the American side confirms precisely this to us, together with other NATO partners, then I will ask our Ukrainian society what it thinks: do we accept it or not? I have no right to make that decision on my own,” Zelenskyy said. "Of course, this would be without any recognition of the occupied territories as Russian," he added.

“But we need specifics, and we don't have them yet. All of this is still under discussion,” the president said.

Veronika Melkozerova contributed to this report.