Zelensky: US asked for the first time whether Ukraine would withdraw troops from Donbas for NATO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on November 13 that American negotiators had asked for the first time whether Ukraine was ready to withdraw troops from Donbas in exchange for NATO membership. He told journalists this on Friday.

According to Zelensky, the question was raised at the latest diplomatic round. He said that if Washington and NATO allies confirm a concrete package of guarantees — Article 5-level guarantees, financing for the army and support for reconstruction — the decision would be put to Ukrainian society for consideration.

"If the American side confirms this to us together with other NATO colleagues," he said, adding that he would then ask the opinion of Ukrainian society whether to accept it or not, but that he has no right to decide this on his own, that concrete things are needed, which do not yet exist, and that all of this is being discussed.

At the same time, Zelensky stressed that under no circumstances would Ukraine legally recognize the occupied territories as part of Russia. "Undoubtedly, without any recognition of the occupied territories as Russian," he added.

He also said that he had warned the American negotiators directly: Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted. "When Putin talks about state borders, it is not about reducing Russia's territory," Zelensky said, adding that this is why the comrade in the Kremlin cannot be believed.

According to him, full NATO membership would reduce the likelihood of a new Russian offensive, and he called guarantees on the Article 5 model the necessary minimum for any settlement. Some partners had proposed bilateral agreements modeled on US commitments to Israel or defense treaties with Middle Eastern countries — with American bases, naval and air presence and air defense systems such as Patriot batteries. Zelensky treated the reliability of such schemes with caution, noting that NATO's collective defense article had been invoked only once in history — after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

Denmark and other Northern European countries, he said, actively support Ukraine's accession to the alliance.

The statements came after the second round of US-mediated trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11 and subsequent consultations in Moscow between Putin and senior American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The White House announced progress toward a large-scale prisoner exchange and future European participation in the negotiations; fundamental disputes over territory and post-war guarantees remain unresolved.