Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that American negotiators raised for the first time the question of a possible withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donbas in exchange for the country’s accession to NATO. “The Americans raised the question: ‘What if Ukraine is in NATO, will Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas?’ This was the first time,” Zelensky said on Friday, November 13, while speaking with journalists.
The statement was made after Zelensky’s meeting with US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Dublin. They arrived there after talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow and after another round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations mediated by the US in Abu Dhabi.
There is no specific formalized proposal on this issue yet, Zelensky stressed. According to him, the US is discussing with Ukraine a comprehensive package of security guarantees that could be offered during the negotiations.
According to the Ukrainian president, this package should include specific security guarantees from NATO and the EU, a strong Ukrainian army with a sufficient number of troops, weapons and financial support for a certain period, as well as a plan for the country’s reconstruction with funding from clear sources.
Zelensky also said that the US is discussing guarantees “similar to Articles 4 and 5” of the NATO Charter. Asked about the possible deployment of American troops on Ukrainian territory, US representatives, according to him, answered in the negative.
