Zelenskyy: U.S. Floated a Donbas Withdrawal for NATO Membership for the First Time; a Full Security Package Would Go to a Referendum

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on November 14 that U.S. negotiators, during the latest round of peace talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi, had for the first time raised a question with Kyiv: if Ukraine joined NATO, would it withdraw from the eastern Donbas region? Zelenskyy's office released his remarks to reporters on Saturday.

"The Americans raised a question: 'What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?'" Zelenskyy said. He said it was the first time NATO membership had been linked to territorial concessions in the talks. "That is why I believe NATO is back on the agenda. But you have also heard (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's signals, and this is an extremely difficult conversation." Putin has long called Ukrainian NATO membership a red line for Moscow, citing it as one reason for launching Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Zelenskyy reiterated that Kyiv was not ready to concede territory. But he said that if Ukraine received a comprehensive package, including security guarantees, the right to a strong and well-funded Ukrainian army and funds to rebuild, he would put the question to a national referendum. AFP reported that Zelenskyy also said any arrangement would not recognize the occupied territories as Russian, and that if the American side confirmed the proposal together with other NATO partners, he would ask Ukrainian society whether it accepted it.

Zelenskyy also dismissed Russia's call for a broad agreement on the European security architecture before the specifics of ending the war are agreed, saying: "This war must be ended first." He rejected Putin's suggestion of a local humanitarian ceasefire in Kostiantynivka, a fiercely contested city in Donetsk region, saying it reflected Moscow's inability to take the city by force and that civilians there had already had the opportunity to evacuate; he said Ukraine had proposed seven or eight other frontline settlements where civilians are trapped as potential sites for a humanitarian truce.

The two days of U.S.-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia in the Emirati capital on November 10 and 11 ended without a major breakthrough, though the sides agreed to a prisoner exchange involving more than 1,000 people, with final numbers still under discussion. Zelenskyy said U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had pledged to raise an energy ceasefire with Putin at their Moscow meeting on Thursday, but there was no news of progress after those talks: "Putin personally does not support a ceasefire." Zelenskyy met Witkoff and Kushner in Ireland on Thursday; he said the U.S. negotiators told him all sides had agreed for Europe to have a seat at the table in forthcoming peace talks, and EU leaders at the Dublin summit agreed that Europe's team would comprise five major military powers, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Poland, as well as EU officials.

Related: Follow-up: Zelenskyy in Dublin Rejects Trading Donbas for Security, Saying Ceding Territory Will Not Bring Peace

Related: Zelenskyy in Dublin Says Ukraine Aims for a Talks Outcome by Year-End; Abu Dhabi Talks Agree a Large Prisoner Exchange

(Source: Reuters)

Source: Reuters

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

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