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U.S. negotiators asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to consider giving up a part of his country exchange for NATO membership, the leader claimed.
Zelenksyy told journalists on Friday he had been asked for the first time whether he would withdraw from the eastern region of Donbas in exchange for membership to the military alliance.
“The Americans raised a question: “What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?” This was the first time this had been raised,” the Ukrainian president said.
Zelenskyy said he was discussing a “security package” for Ukraine which included security guarantees from NATO and the European Union, an “adequate number of troops, weapons” as well as financial support. The Ukrainian president said if these measures are offered, he would ask Ukrainians whether to accept the potential exchange.
He did not specify if he meant a referendum, but added “I have no right to make that decision on my own.”
Control over the Donbas region, much of which has been occupied by Russia since the start of the war, has been a recurring sticking point in negotiations to end the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously demanded that Ukraine pull its forces out of the Donbas region as a precondition for a peace agreement.
After staging elections dismissed by most of the world as a sham in occupied parts of the Donbas region, Putin declared in September 2022 that four regions of eastern Ukraine had also been annexed by Russia. None of the annexations have been recognized by the U.S. or the United Nations, and most countries consider them illegal landgrabs.
Zelenskyy said he told U.S. negotiators Ukraine would need security guarantees modelled on NATO’s Article 5 “as an asbolute minimum.” That article sets out a key principle for the military alliance, whereby an attack on one of the member-states is considered an attack on all other members.
The Ukrainian president added he was “not sure it would necessarily work,” and said he needed more specific details on the potential membership.
