US proposed Ukraine cede Donbas for NATO membership, Zelensky says

US negotiators have floated the idea that Ukraine could pull its remaining troops out of the eastern Donbas region in return for NATO membership, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Saturday.

His remarks followed visits by US envoys to Moscow and an EU summit in Dublin as part of ongoing attempts to end the Russia‑Ukraine war. Kyiv has long insisted that NATO entry is a prerequisite for any peace settlement, while Russia maintains that another NATO member on its border would be unacceptable.

Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine will not surrender sovereign territory despite Moscow’s demand for the Donbas. He quoted, "The Americans raised a question: 'What if Ukraine joins Nato? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?' This was the first time this had been raised," and noted it was the first time the issue had been mentioned.

He said a deal that included security guarantees, no limits on Ukraine’s armed forces and funds for reconstruction would be put to a national referendum.

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff travelled to Dublin on Thursday to meet Zelensky after a round of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow the day before.

Kremlin statements suggest Russia’s position has not shifted, with Moscow still demanding territorial concessions, limits on the size of Ukraine’s military and a guarantee of Kyiv’s neutrality, demands that Kyiv says would cripple its defence.

Ukraine has rejected those conditions, arguing they would impede its ability to resist any future invasion.

A recent sign of possible compromise came last month when US First Lady Melania Trump helped broker a temporary ceasefire in the Russian‑occupied city of Oleshky to allow evacuations and aid deliveries.

US officials had previously said that NATO membership for Ukraine was off the table. Zelensky said the US proposal made him believe that "Nato is back on the agenda", but warned that Putin’s signals make the conversation extremely difficult.

Russia currently occupies roughly one‑fifth of Ukrainian territory, including most of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces that form the Donbas. Ceding the small areas still held by Kyiv would be a modest territorial concession but would symbolically acknowledge the Donbas as Russian.

Zelensky has previously spoken of retaking Russian‑controlled parts of four Ukrainian regions and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.