US negotiators have touted the idea of Ukraine withdrawing its remaining forces from the eastern Donbas region in exchange for Nato membership, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
The US has not confirmed the Ukrainian president’s comments. A US official told the BBC “many ideas continue to be discussed but any final deal will have to be agreed to by both parties”.
Zelensky’s remarks came after US envoys met him and Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of US efforts to end the war between their two countries.
Kyiv has long sought membership of the military alliance, but this has previously been opposed by the US and others, while Russia has said another Nato member on its border was unacceptable.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently controls most of the industrial Donbas region. Zelensky has consistently said Ukraine was unwilling to give up sovereign territory.
“The Americans raised a question: ‘What if Ukraine joins Nato? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?’ This was the first time this had been raised,” Zelensky said in remarks released by his office on Saturday.
He went on to say that if he received a specific proposal that contained security guarantees, no constraints on Ukraine’s military and funds to rebuild the country, he would put it to a referendum.
