{"id":4462,"date":"2026-11-15T11:04:04","date_gmt":"2026-11-15T06:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4462"},"modified":"2026-11-15T11:04:04","modified_gmt":"2026-11-15T06:04:04","slug":"us-floated-idea-of-ukraine-ceding-donbas-for-nato-membership-zelensky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4462","title":{"rendered":"US floated idea of Ukraine ceding Donbas for NATO membership: Zelensky"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

US negotiators have floated the idea of Ukraine\u2019s \u200bpotential withdrawal from its eastern region of Donbas in exchange for joining NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, following the latest round of peace talks<\/u><\/a> with \u200cRussia in Abu Dhabi.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the first time the question of linking NATO membership to territorial concessions has been raised during the talks, Zelensky said in remarks to reporters released by his office on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Americans raised a question: \u2019What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why I believe NATO is back on the agenda. But you have also heard (Russian President Vladimir) Putin\u2019s \u200bsignals, and this is an extremely difficult conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putin has long said Ukrainian membership of NATO is a red line for Moscow, citing the issue as one \u200breason for launching Russia\u2019s military strikes in 2022.<\/p>\n

Zelensky reiterated his position that Kyiv was not ready to concede territory but said that \u2060if it received a comprehensive package including security guarantees, the right to a strong and well-funded Ukrainian army and funds to rebuild, he would put the question to a \u200bnational referendum.<\/p>\n

<\/a>End to war<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Echoing comments made by European leaders at a summit in Dublin on Friday, Zelensky dismissed Russia\u2019s call for a broad agreement on European security \u200barchitecture to be reached before the specifics are agreed on how to end the war in Ukraine<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot turn everything upside down and start by talking about changing the security framework in the world or across the continent overall, and only then talk about ending this war. This war must be ended first,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/u><\/a> envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner said on Saturday that the two \u200bsides had set out \u201cmaximalist positions\u201d in the talks this week, but in private discussions both \u201cunderstand that practical compromises will be necessary to end this war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSerious and constructive work continues \u200bamong those of us committed to finding solutions,\u201d Kushner said in a social media post.<\/p>\n

Zelensky also dismissed Putin\u2019s suggestion for a local humanitarian ceasefire in Kostiantynivka, a hotly contested city in Ukraine\u2019s \u200ceastern Donetsk \u2060region, saying it reflected Moscow\u2019s inability to take the city by force.<\/p>\n

Civilians there have already had the opportunity to evacuate, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutin simply wants us to leave Kostiantynivka so that they can move in and occupy the entire city that way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ukraine has given a list of seven or eight other frontline settlements where civilians, including children, are trapped for a potential humanitarian truce, but Russia prefers to use them as military targets, Zelensky said.<\/p>\n

Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians in the war.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Prisoner exchange<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The two days of \u200bUS-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia concluded \u200bon Wednesday in the Emirati capital without \u2060a major breakthrough, though the sides agreed to a prisoner exchange that will involve more than 1,000 people, Zelensky said.<\/p>\n

The final numbers for the prisoner swap were still under discussion, he added.<\/p>\n

Kushner and fellow US envoy Steve Witkoff had pledged to raise an energy \u200bceasefire with Putin at a meeting in Moscow on Thursday, Zelensky said, but there was no news of any progress after \u200btheir talks.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutin personally does \u2060not support a ceasefire,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Zelensky met Witkoff and Kushner on Thursday in Ireland after their talks in Moscow.<\/p>\n

He said the US negotiators had told him that all sides had agreed for Europe to have a seat at the negotiating table in forthcoming peace talks.<\/p>\n

In Abu Dhabi, delegates from Europe \u2014 which is now Ukraine\u2019s largest financial and military backer \u2014 had talks \u2060with US \u200band Ukrainian officials but did not sit at the table with Russia.<\/p>\n

At the summit in Ireland, EU leaders \u200bagreed that Europe\u2019s team for any Ukraine peace talks would comprise five major military powers \u2014 non-EU member Britain plus France, Germany, Italy and Poland \u2014 as well as EU officials.<\/p>\n

Kushner said the US focus was now on \u201cfacilitating \u200bdirect engagement between Moscow and European partners and preparing the agenda for the next round of trilateral talks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US negotiators have floated the idea of Ukraine\u2019s \u200bpotential withdrawal from its eastern region of Donbas in exchange for joining NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, following the latest round of peace talks with \u200cRussia in Abu Dhabi. This is the first time the question of linking NATO membership to territorial concessions has been raised during the talks, Zelensky said in remarks to reporters released by his office on Saturday. \u201cThe Americans raised a question: \u2019What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?\u201d he said. \u201cThat is why I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4462\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}