Zelensky says US asked if Ukraine would leave Donbas in return for NATO entry

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the United States put forward the idea of Ukraine pulling out of the Donbas region in return for membership of NATO, according to The Times of Israel. He made the remarks to reporters on condition that they not be published until the following day.

Zelensky described the American approach as a question. As quoted by The Times of Israel, he said US officials asked what would happen if Ukraine joined NATO, and whether Ukraine would then leave Donbas. He added that the idea had never been put to Ukraine before. The Israeli news site Ynet carried the same claim in a brief news alert, quoting Zelensky as saying the US had offered Ukraine a withdrawal from the Donbas area in exchange for joining the alliance.

What Zelensky said about security guarantees

Beyond the Donbas question, Zelensky said his government was negotiating what he called "specific security guarantees from NATO and the EU," The Times of Israel reported. He did not, in the comments reported, describe what those guarantees would contain.

He also set out how he would handle a decision of this kind. If Western governments confirmed the guarantees, Zelensky said, he would ask Ukrainian society whether to accept the arrangement, explaining that such a choice was not his alone to make. The reports do not say what form that consultation would take, whether a referendum, a parliamentary vote or something else.

Where Donbas is and why it matters

Donbas is the industrial region of eastern Ukraine bordering Russia. It has been at the centre of fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces, and much of it is under Russian control. The question of whether Ukraine would give up the parts of Donbas it still holds has been one of the most contested issues in discussions over ending the war, since any such step would mean Kyiv formally relinquishing territory it regards as its own.

The Times of Israel framed the American idea as Ukraine ceding land to Russia. Zelensky's own words, as quoted, speak of Ukraine withdrawing from Donbas, and do not name Russia as the party that would take control of the area.

NATO and Ukraine's bid to join

NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a Western military alliance whose members commit to collective defence, meaning an attack on one is treated as an attack on all. Ukraine has long sought membership as a guarantee against further Russian attack, while Moscow has opposed it. Linking membership to a territorial concession would represent a trade between two of the central questions in the conflict: Ukraine's borders and its long-term security.

Zelensky referred to guarantees from both NATO and the European Union, though the reports do not say how the two would relate to each other or to the Donbas question.

How the reports differ

Both reports present the idea as an American proposal. Zelensky's quoted words, however, describe a question raised by US officials rather than a formal offer. Readers should treat the account as Zelensky's characterisation of a conversation, not as a confirmed US policy position.

What the reports do not say

No response from the US government has been reported, so it is not known whether Washington accepts Zelensky's description of the exchange or who on the American side raised it. The reports also carry no reaction from Russia or from NATO, and Zelensky did not say whether Ukraine has answered the question or what timeline, if any, the talks on guarantees are working to.