What changed
Volodymyr Zelensky says US negotiators raised a possible trade: Ukraine would withdraw its remaining forces from the Donbas in exchange for Nato membership. He said it was the first time Washington had put that idea to him, bringing Nato membership back into the discussion after US envoys met him in Dublin following talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Zelensky said he would put such a proposal to a referendum if it included:
- security guarantees;
- no limits on Ukraine’s military;
- funds to rebuild the country.
No peace agreement has been reached, and Ukraine has not agreed to give up the territory.
Why it matters
This would force Kyiv to weigh a formal territorial concession against a promise of protection. Ukraine controls only small parts of the Donbas, while Russia occupies roughly a fifth of the country. Giving up those remaining positions would still carry major symbolic weight because it would mean accepting the Donbas as Russian.
The central problem is that the two sides are still asking for incompatible things. Russia continues to demand territory and Ukrainian neutrality. Ukraine has rejected both territorial concessions and military limits because they could leave it less able to resist a future invasion.
The proposal’s meaning is also unsettled. It is unclear whether it reflects an agreed US position, or whether Russia would accept Ukraine joining Nato. For now, the important shift is narrower: Zelensky says an option previously treated as off the table has returned to the conversation.
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