US negotiators have, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, raised a question that directly links NATO membership for Ukraine with a Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbas. It was a conditional question rather than an accepted plan, but it still exposes how directly the talks may be testing the price of security guarantees.
Zelenskyy said the negotiators asked after a recent round of talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi whether Ukraine would withdraw from Donbas if it joined NATO. Kyiv is not prepared to leave its sovereign territory, he said, as reported by Der Spiegel.
This is more than a dispute over negotiating language. A withdrawal would concern Ukrainian territory and, according to the report, heavily fortified positions. It would therefore tie a possible security commitment not merely to a political concession, but to a concrete change in Ukraine’s defensive position. NATO membership could offer Kyiv far-reaching protection, yet that does not make the territorial cost automatically negotiable.
Zelenskyy did indicate a narrow route for considering the wider question. If there were a comprehensive package including security guarantees, a strong and well-funded Ukrainian army, and reconstruction funds, he said he would put the matter to a referendum. That is not acceptance of a trade; it is a condition for placing such a decision before voters.
The idea also faces familiar political barriers. Der Spiegel reports that the current US administration had previously rejected Ukrainian NATO membership, while the Kremlin opposes Ukraine joining the alliance. The supplied material does not establish whether the US question was part of a formal offer, who authorised it, or how Russia and NATO currently respond. Its immediate significance is that territory and alliance protection have been openly placed in the same negotiating question, without resolving the conflict between the parties’ positions.
Sources
- Der Spiegel · Source date: 2026-11-14
Independent editorial content. WUA is not affiliated with any political party. 2026-11-14