Zelenskyy: “U.S. Proposes NATO Membership if Ukraine Gives Up Donbas ... Will Put It to a Referendum if Security Is Guaranteed”

[Financial News] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a proposal had been explored in U.S.-mediated peace talks to cede the eastern Donbas region (Donetsk and Luhansk) to Russia in exchange for Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP) and other foreign media on the 14th (local time), Zelenskyy told reporters the previous day, “The U.S. side asked, ‘What if Ukraine joined NATO? Would you then withdraw from Donbas?’” He said, “This is the first time such a proposal has come up in recent negotiations.”
The United States, Ukraine and Russia recently held peace talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), with U.S. mediation—the first such talks in nine months. Zelenskyy’s remarks suggest that the U.S. has put forward the “NATO membership” card as a compromise to resolve the territorial issue, the talks’ biggest obstacle.
Zelenskyy stood firm on his position that he cannot officially recognize Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia as Russian territory and will not withdraw his troops. However, he indicated that he would be willing to put territorial concessions to a referendum if stringent preconditions were met.
He said, “The West must first commit to a comprehensive security package that includes meaningful security guarantees from NATO and the European Union (EU), full-scale personnel and weapons support needed to maintain Ukraine’s armed forces, and reconstruction funding.” He added, “If the United States and other NATO members guarantee this, we will ask the Ukrainian people whether they would accept it.” He stressed, “I have no authority to make this decision unilaterally or bypass the process.”
However, Zelenskyy said, “In Europe, true security means only the EU and NATO,” and stressed that collective defense provisions such as Article 5 of the NATO Treaty—which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all—must be included in a peace agreement, rather than relying on bilateral security arrangements such as those proposed by some, including the deployment of U.S. military bases and MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems.
It remains unclear whether the U.S. compromise proposal will lead to an actual end to the war. Russia, which is demanding the entire Donbas region, has made Ukraine’s bid to join NATO a central justification for the war, so it is uncertain whether Russia will accept the U.S. proposal to cede territory in exchange for NATO membership.


[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter