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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that U.S. negotiators had raised the idea of withdrawing Ukraine's remaining troops from the eastern Donbas region in exchange for joining NATO. The United States has not confirmed Zelensky's statement.
But a US official told the BBC: "Many ideas are still being discussed, but any final agreement must be agreed to by both parties."
The Ukrainian leader's remarks came after U.S. envoys met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky respectively as part of U.S. efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
In fact, Kyiv has long sought to join the NATO military alliance, but has been opposed by the United States and other countries in the past; Russia has said that the presence of another NATO member on its borders is unacceptable.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia currently controls most of the Donbas Industrial Zone, but Zelensky has always stated that Ukraine is unwilling to give up sovereign territory.
"The Americans asked the question: 'What if Ukraine joins NATO? Will Ukraine withdraw from Donbass?' This is the first time this question has been raised," Zelensky said in remarks released by his office on Saturday.
He went on to say that if he received a concrete proposal containing security guarantees, no restrictions on Ukraine's military, and funds to rebuild the country, he would put it to a referendum.
U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff traveled to the Irish capital Dublin on Thursday to meet with Zelensky, just after a round of talks with Putin in Moscow.
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Remarks by Putin and Kremlin officials showed that Russia's stance on the war has not changed.
Moscow has previously offered limits on the size of Ukraine's military, territorial concessions and guarantees of Kyiv's neutrality as conditions for a peace deal. But Ukraine has rejected the demands, arguing that such restrictions would weaken its ability to defend against any future invasion.
Other NATO members besides the United States are also wary of Ukraine joining the alliance - it is understood that Ukraine itself considers this impractical. The Kremlin has been strongly opposed, which is one of the reasons why Russia launched the war in the first place.
Therefore, it is possible that the US envoy was testing Ukraine's "red line" on the occupied lands in Donbas. Zelensky recently said U.S. mediators believe Kyiv can achieve peace simply by ceding territory and are pressing for a deal as soon as possible. Furthermore, Ukraine is convinced that Russia’s ambitions go far beyond this and has long viewed NATO as its only reliable protection, so it is also possible that Zelensky made this suggestion public in order to reopen a discussion that had almost been considered closed.
Zelensky insisted that the idea was now "back on the agenda" and became part of an "extremely difficult conversation" on European security. It also seems like Ukraine's counterattack against Russia's renewed hardline stance.
Moreover, Moscow is now talking about a "new European security architecture," a term Russia has long used to refer to weakening NATO.
In fact, the issue was the main focus of the latest round of talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States in Abu Dhabi this week.
Hours after Zelensky's remarks, Kushner appeared intent on downplaying any suggestion that the United States was offering Ukraine NATO membership, emphasizing the need for "confidentiality" in the sensitive process.
He also said that there were reports of "extreme demands" proposals and "strong political rhetoric" in the negotiations.
In what sounded like a rebuke to Kiev, Kushner referred to "private discussions" aimed at exploring new ideas to end what he called a "terrible war."
Russia currently occupies about one-fifth of Ukraine, including most of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbass.
Moscow has again insisted it will not agree to a ceasefire until a final peace deal is in place, which would include Ukraine relinquishing control of parts of the Donbas that Russian forces have not yet captured, as well as the Crimean peninsula that Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
The latest round of talks comes after a period of tense relations between Kyiv and Washington. Previously, Ukraine launched an attack on oil facilities deep inside Russia, and Trump had asked Ukraine to suspend the operation to promote Russian diesel supplies and alleviate rising global fuel prices.
At that time, Kyiv subsequently accused U.S. officials of restricting Ukraine's Starlink network service, which Ukraine uses to coordinate defense operations. At the same time, Trump said that "it is time for Ukraine to have a new president" and called for new elections.
The election has been suspended while Ukraine remains under martial law, but Zelensky has previously said he would be willing to hold one within months of a peace deal and would give up the presidency in exchange for Ukraine's NATO membership.
This article was originally written in English. We used artificial intelligence to assist in translation and was reviewed by BBC journalists before publication. Learn more about how we use artificial intelligence.
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