Zelensky says US floated Donbas withdrawal for NATO membership

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said US negotiators raised the idea of Ukraine withdrawing its remaining forces from the eastern Donbas region in exchange for NATO membership, the first time Washington has put the swap to Kyiv.

"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 told reporters on Saturday.

He said he would put such a proposal to a national referendum if it carried security guarantees, placed no limits on the size of Ukraine's military and included money to rebuild the country.

The offer came during a round of shuttle diplomacy. The BBC reported that US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met Zelensky in Dublin on Thursday, after holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. France 24 said the latest round of peace talks was held in Abu Dhabi this week.

Russia occupies roughly a fifth of Ukraine, including most of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbas. Ukrainian forces still hold small parts of those regions, and giving them up would amount to Kyiv accepting that the Donbas is Russian. Zelensky has previously spoken of retaking territory in four Ukrainian regions and Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

Moscow has demanded that Kyiv limit the size of its army, cede land and accept guaranteed neutrality. Ukraine has rejected those terms, saying they would leave it unable to repel a future invasion. Euronews reported that Putin has indicated he will not soften his territorial demands and has rejected the deployment of foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine.

US officials had earlier said NATO membership for Ukraine was off the table. Zelensky said the new proposal made him believe "NATO is back on the agenda", but warned: "You have also heard Putin's signals, and this is an extremely difficult conversation." CNA reported that he also said Russia was "betting everything" on this winter's campaign.

Relations between Kyiv and Washington had been strained. The BBC reported that US President Donald Trump asked Ukraine to pause strikes on oil facilities deep inside Russia so that Russian diesel could keep flowing and ease fuel prices that have risen since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February. Zelensky accused US officials of restricting Ukraine's Starlink internet service, which its forces use to coordinate defence, while Trump said it was "time for Ukraine to get a new president".

Elections are suspended under martial law. Zelensky has said he would hold them within months of a peace deal and would give up the presidency in exchange for NATO membership. Last month, US First Lady Melania Trump brokered a temporary ceasefire in the Kherson region to allow evacuations and aid deliveries, the BBC reported.