US asked Ukraine would give up territory for Nato membership, says Zelensky

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Washington suggested Kyiv cede land to Moscow in exchange for joining Nato, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in comments released yesterday, saying ...

KYIV, Nov 15 — Washington suggested Kyiv cede land to Moscow in exchange for joining Nato, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in comments released yesterday, saying his country’s relationship with the Western alliance is “back on the agenda.”

Zelensky also warned of the dangers of Moscow’s push to redraw “influence” in Europe and said the Kremlin was “betting everything” on this winter’s military campaign.

Moscow has pounded Ukraine in the run-up to winter, with Russian President Vladimir Putin showing no sign of backing down.

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met both Putin and Zelensky Thursday after two days of talks in Abu Dhabi, which ended with no breakthrough.

Negotiations did, however, lead to agreements that European countries would join future talks on ending the war.

In Dublin on Friday, Europe chose five countries — France, Germany, Italy, the UK and Poland — to send representatives to the talks.

“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, adding:

“After providing Ukraine with this kind of defence support, seeing this kind of development of our army and this strength in our defence, they cannot simply let Ukraine go.”

He said the discussion showed that “Nato is back on the agenda” for Ukraine.

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