Zelenskyy says US asked about trading land for NATO

NATO membership floated as trade for Donbas withdrawal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised a question during their 13 November Dublin meeting: would Ukraine withdraw from the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donbas in exchange for accession to NATO?^[1] Zelenskyy did not present the exchange as an agreed settlement or a formal US offer with settled terms.

The White House has identified Witkoff and Kushner as the US envoys conducting dialogue with both Russian and Ukrainian officials, including meetings with Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy in September.^[2] The Dublin meeting followed a broader round of talks in Abu Dhabi, where Ukraine's team met American and European representatives including the E4 countries, the European Commission and NATO.^[3]

Zelenskyy's response and the conditions he set

Zelenskyy said Ukraine would not recognise occupied territory as Russian. Any discussion of a withdrawal, he said, would require concrete, enforceable security guarantees, support for Ukraine's armed forces and reconstruction, and ultimately the approval of Ukrainians. No primary statement from the White House, Ukraine's presidency, NATO or the EU publishes the full exchange or verifies the precise conditions attributed to him.^[1]

Zelenskyy's office said the confirmed outcomes of the Dublin meeting included an expected prisoner release, deeper European participation in diplomacy and preparations for further multilateral meetings.^[1] Zelenskyy said Kyiv was counting on "the largest prisoner exchange since the start of this war".

Zelenskyy had said before the Dublin meeting that European involvement in any settlement was essential. He said that "This war is in Ukraine, this war is in Europe, and ending this war without Europe's participation would be unfair and, honestly, impossible."^[3]

What is confirmed and what is not

No primary statement reviewed from the White House, Ukraine's presidency, NATO or the EU publishes the reported NATO-for-Donbas proposition, its terms, a map of any proposed withdrawal, or an American confirmation that it was a formal offer. The idea should be understood as a question raised during US-mediated diplomacy, attributed by Zelenskyy, rather than an agreed deal or a declared US negotiating position.^[1]

The EU, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, the United States and NATO issued a joint statement after their meeting in Abu Dhabi on 10 November.^[4]

Russia's position runs in the opposite direction

Russia's publicly said terms have included Ukraine abandoning NATO membership and withdrawing forces from the whole of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including areas still held by Kyiv.^[5] Those demands sit directly at odds with the idea of NATO membership as an inducement to Kyiv.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in March that Ukraine has a path toward NATO agreed at the 2024 Washington summit, but that membership was "not on the cards for now". Rutte was clear on territorial questions: "When it comes to territory, any decisions on territory clearly are for Ukraine to take."^[6] Preparations for further multilateral meetings were discussed at the Dublin talks on 13 November, according to Zelenskyy's office.^[1]