US asks if Ukraine would give up Donbas in exchange for NATO membership, says Zelensky

Zelensky says the US has, for the first time, asked whether Ukraine would give up Donbas in exchange for NATO membership, but he insists Ukrainians must decide.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the United States, for the first time, raised the possibility of Ukraine withdrawing from its eastern Donbas region in exchange for joining NATO.

According to The Punch, Zelensky spoke to journalists on Friday, and his comments were released on Saturday. He spoke after two days of US-brokered peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

“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.

Under the proposal, Ukraine would give up Donbas, which comprises Donetsk and Luhansk, to secure membership of the alliance.

However, Zelensky said Ukraine was discussing specific security guarantees from NATO and the European Union, adding that any decision on territorial concessions would require the consent of Ukrainians.

He said, “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.”