The U.S. has asked Ukraine whether it would withdraw troops from parts of the eastern Donbas region in exchange for NATO membership, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, signaling a potential shift in Trump’s (R) previous opposition to Kyiv joining the Western military alliance. Zelenskyy told reporters Friday, that American negotiators raised the question for the first time, though he added that the discussions have not yielded a concrete proposal.
“The Americans asked: ‘If Ukraine joins NATO, will Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?’” Zelenskyy said in remarks released Saturday. The Ukrainian president stressed that any arrangement would not involve recognizing occupied territories as Russian, while also rejecting the possibility of Ukraine committing to neutrality, saying that would require changing the country’s constitution.
“If Putin expects Ukraine’s neutrality to be enshrined, that’s not going to happen,” he said. “We’re not in NATO right now anyway.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has long said NATO membership for Ukraine is a red line for his country, citing the issue as one reason for launching his invasion of Kyiv in February 2022.
Earlier this week, Russian, Ukrainian, and U.S. officials met in Abu Dhabi for their first trilateral negotiations in nine months. Meanwhile, European officials held separate talks with U.S. and Ukrainian counterparts there without engaging directly with Moscow. The inquiry involves land in the Donbas that Ukrainian forces still control and Russian troops have failed to capture. Agreeing to pull back would force Ukrainians to weigh ceding territory their military has fought to defend against the promise of alliance protection from future Russian aggression.
The reported question marks a notable departure from Trump’s earlier stance. In an August 2025 interview with Fox News, Trump ruled out Kyiv’s entry into the alliance, saying, “They’re not going to be a part of NATO.” At the time, he suggested European nations should take the lead in defending Ukraine and ruled out deploying U.S. troops to protect its borders. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) also downplayed the prospect of membership last month, citing the requirement for unanimous agreement among all NATO allies. “Right now, we’re simply focused, when it comes to Ukraine, on the ending of this conflict, if that’s possible,” Rubio said.
A joint statement on November 10 following talks among U.S., Ukrainian and European officials endorsed credible security guarantees for Kyiv and affirmed that “a strong NATO will remain central to Euro-Atlantic collective defence,” though it stopped short of backing Ukrainian membership. NATO maintains that Ukraine’s future lies within the alliance, provided members agree and Kyiv meets necessary conditions. Zelenskyy said Kyiv is discussing a broader framework that includes security guarantees from NATO and the European Union, weapons and funding for Ukraine’s military, and postwar reconstruction funds. Any formal proposal would have to be presented to the Ukrainian public, he said.
“If the American side confirms precisely this to us, together with other NATO partners, then I will ask our Ukrainian society what it thinks: do we accept it or not?” he said. “I have no right to make that decision on my own. But we need specifics, and we don’t have them yet.” He reiterated that Kyiv will not recognize Russian sovereignty over occupied territory, meaning a troop withdrawal would leave Ukraine’s claims to the land unresolved.
Zelenskyy also warned that Putin could use the negotiations to weaken NATO and redraw European borders, turning talks on ending the nearly five-year war into a wider bargain over continental security. “Putin’s desire to change borders in Europe is a fact. I am sure this is part of his concept of revising security guarantees in Europe,” he said. “This is dangerous because, in my view, it is precisely things like this that lead to wars or escalations.” Zelenskyy later added: “Real security in Europe means the EU and NATO. That’s it. There is no other security in Europe.” Addressing European leaders in Dublin on Thursday, Zelenskyy urged the bloc to secure a permanent role in the negotiations, characterizing U.S.-Russian discussions as “more about some kind of new security framework between Europe and Russia.” Washington has acknowledged the talks carry wider implications. Jared Kushner, Trump’s envoy and son-in-law, said European participation would allow negotiators to address “broader postwar European security arrangements alongside the territorial issues between Ukraine and Russia.”
Zelenskyy’s remarks followed an agreement by EU leaders on Friday that Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Poland — known as the E5 — will represent Europe alongside EU institutions at the next round of peace talks, European Council President António Costa announced. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged allies on Friday to sustain pressure on the Kremlin.
“The best way to get Russia to the table is to keep up our support for Ukraine and to keep maximum pressure on Russia,” she said. The European Commission is preparing its 22nd package of sanctions against Russia and a financing proposal for Ukraine ahead of a November 26–27 European Council summit.
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