Zelenskyy: US Floated Ukraine Leaving Donbas in Exchange for NATO Membership

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday, November 14, that the United States has proposed a trade in negotiations to end the war: Ukraine would join NATO, the North Atlantic military alliance, if it pulled out of its eastern Donbas region. He said the question had never been raised before.

Zelenskyy spoke a day after meeting US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Dublin. The Americans, in his account, asked whether Ukraine would withdraw from Donbas if it were admitted to NATO.

Status of Donbas

Donbas lies in Ukraine's far east and borders Russia. Moscow declared the region annexed in 2022, after its full-scale invasion, and Russian troops occupy the vast majority of it. Ceding Donbas has long featured in proposals from US President Donald Trump's administration, including the 28-point peace plan the White House put forward in 2025. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously demanded that Ukraine drop its bid to join NATO and accept strict limits on the size of its army.

"I have said repeatedly: Ukraine is not retreating and is not giving up its land to terrorists," Zelenskyy said.

A security package

The president said he is discussing a comprehensive security package with partners. It would include specific guarantees from NATO and the EU, a strong Ukrainian army with enough troops, weapons and financial support for a set period, and a recovery plan with clearly attached funding.

"If the American side confirms precisely this to us, together with other NATO partners, then 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," Zelenskyy said. He added that this would involve no recognition of the occupied territories as Russian.

"But we need specifics, and we don't have them yet. All of this is still under discussion," he said.

The White House and the US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.