US floats Nato membership for Donbas withdrawal deal, Zelenskyy says

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed on November 13 that American envoys raised the question during the latest round of peace talks in Abu Dhabi: "What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?" It marks the first time the United States has explicitly tied alliance membership to territorial concessions in the nearly five-year war. Zelenskyy stressed that Kyiv fundamentally opposes ceding territory and would never recognize Russian occupation as legitimate, but he left the door open to putting a comprehensive package to a national vote if the U.S. and other NATO partners confirm concrete guarantees — including Article 5-style security commitments, a fully funded and equipped Ukrainian military, and a reconstruction plan with identified financing.

The proposal surfaced as U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, shuttled between Moscow, Abu Dhabi, and Dublin. After meeting Putin in Moscow on Thursday, they told Zelenskyy in Ireland that all sides had agreed to give Europe a seat at future negotiating tables. European leaders meeting in Dublin simultaneously endorsed a five-nation contact group — Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Poland — plus EU officials to represent the continent. Yet in Abu Dhabi, European delegates met separately with U.S. and Ukrainian officials and did not sit across from Russian counterparts, underscoring the fragmented diplomacy.

Russia's public position remains a hard barrier. The Kremlin has repeatedly called Ukrainian NATO membership an existential red line and made a formal ban on accession a condition for any settlement. At the same time, Moscow demands the transfer of the entire Donetsk region — most of which it does not fully control — to Russian authority. Zelenskyy dismissed Putin's offer of a localized humanitarian ceasefire in Kostiantynivka as a tactical ploy to seize the city after Russian forces failed to take it by force, and he accused Moscow of using trapped civilians in other frontline settlements as military targets rather than allowing evacuations.

The only tangible outcome from the Abu Dhabi talks was agreement to prepare a prisoner exchange involving more than 1,000 people, with final numbers still under discussion. U.S. envoys also pledged to raise an energy infrastructure ceasefire with Putin in Moscow, but Zelenskyy said afterward that "Putin personally does not support a ceasefire." Washington has not publicly confirmed or denied floating the Donbas-for-NATO trade, leaving the proposal's official status, the precise security guarantees on offer, and whether NATO allies would endorse them as open questions that will determine whether Zelenskyy can credibly take any deal to the Ukrainian public.