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Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the United States has raised the possibility of Ukraine withdrawing from Donbass in exchange for NATO membership, as Washington studies conditions to end Russia’s large-scale invasion.
The president told reporters late Friday that U.S. negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff had asked Ukraine for the first time whether kyiv would cede to Moscow the part of the eastern region still under its control if Ukraine was admitted to the military alliance.
Ukraine pushed for membership in the alliance and its mutual defense clause before the war, but it has already been blocked by a bloc led by the United States and Germany, worried about the risk of conflict with Russia. Post-war security guarantees for kyiv now form a crucial part of any potential peace deal with Russia.
“If the American side confirms precisely this to us and other NATO partners, then I will ask our Ukrainian society what it thinks: do we accept it or not?” » said Zelensky. He added that he had no right to make such a decision unilaterally.
If NATO made a serious proposal, “as president, I would engage in an open dialogue with the public and say, ‘Look, this is where we are, this is how all of our partners have come together and this is how they see things moving forward.’ »
kyiv, he added, will not recognize as Russian the occupied territories located within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders, including Donbass.
Ukraine still controls about 20% of Donbas, which Russia has failed to capture since its first incursion in 2014. Russian forces have suffered tens of thousands of casualties this year in their attempts to seize the “fortress belt” of cities remaining under kyiv’s control.
The White House, the U.S. Embassy in kyiv and NATO did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russia has insisted that Ukraine should not be part of NATO and has demanded the dismantling of Europe’s post-Cold War security architecture.
Zelensky’s comments could suggest a significant shift in talks between Kyiv and Washington. Negotiators tried to restart talks involving Russia after breaking off talks in February following the outbreak of war with Iran.
The first trilateral negotiations since then between the belligerents and the United States took place this week in Abu Dhabi.
European officials only participated in discussions with the Americans and Ukrainians. Russia refused to accept them at the negotiating table, but Zelensky said European governments should participate directly in the next round of negotiations.
On Friday, EU leaders agreed that a coalition of officials from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom, as well as the EU and NATO, would represent Europe at the technical negotiations.
Moscow said this week that Europe should choose someone Vladimir Putin approves of to represent it in the negotiations if it wants to participate. European officials said there was little chance of leaders-level negotiations happening soon, but if they did take place there would be further discussions over who would represent the continent.
European capitals are backing Zelensky’s attempt to restart talks on NATO membership, two officials briefed on the Abu Dhabi negotiations told the FT, as part of a “maximalist” strategy to counter Moscow’s demands.
Western countries have also discussed an arrangement that would not result in full NATO membership, but with multilateral agreements mimicking the alliance’s mutual defense clause, “Article 5.”
Zelensky said kyiv was discussing a broader security package with its partners, including NATO and EU guarantees, long-term military support for a strong Ukrainian army and an internationally-backed reconstruction plan.
The president said Ukraine still needs significantly increased air defense and energy assistance heading into winter, when Russia is expected to step up attacks on critical infrastructure.
Denmark has pledged a 645 million euro support package including 20mm munitions for F-16s, needed to shoot down jet drones, as well as 200 million euros for drone production, he said.
Zelensky also criticized speed limits imposed on Starshield satellite systems used by the military for medium-range strikes against Russian targets in occupied territory. He said the restrictions, in effect for several days, limited speeds to 161 km/h (100 mph) and also hampered efforts to intercept Russian jet drones.
kyiv believes that restrictions on Starshield – the Pentagon-funded Starlink service designed for military use by SpaceX – have “political implications” and demands their removal. Zelenskyy said the limits appeared to only affect areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia.
“If you impose restrictions on it, you are already partially recognizing the temporarily occupied territories as not ours,” he added.
Senior Ukrainian officials told the FT this week they believed the speed restrictions were imposed to put pressure on kyiv during the latest peace talks with Russia and strengthen Moscow’s position.
SpaceX said in an email that Zelensky’s claims about restrictions were “false. There have been no changes.”
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