The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, has revealed that representatives of the United States have put on the table a possible entry for Ukraine into NATO conditioned on Kiev renouncing the Donbas and transferring that territory to Russia.
"The Americans have raised the question of whether Ukraine would withdraw from the Donbas if it joins NATO. It is the first time they have said it," Zelenski explained in remarks to the press.
In response to this proposal, Zelenski has pointed out that it could only be accepted if it is put to a popular consultation and is accompanied by solid security guarantees, the absence of restrictions for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and international funding for reconstruction. "I do not have the right to decide it alone. I need specifics, which are still lacking, and all of this is being debated," he said.
U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff traveled on Thursday to Dublin to hold a meeting with Zelenski, after having met the day before with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
So far, Washington had blocked the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, while Moscow demands Ukrainian neutrality, limits on the size and deployment of its Army, and the cession of territories as a prerequisite for any understanding.
"NATO is back on the table," Zelenski said. "You have also heard what Putin says. This is an extremely difficult conversation," the head of state warned.
The Ukrainian president added that the U.S. negotiators have told Kiev that Russia would be demanding "another different security structure" for the European continent. "I think it could be dangerous (...). I think the Americans have put this forward due to Russian influence," he argued. He also recalled that in 2021 Putin proposed to Joe Biden "the redistribution of forces in Europe and throughout the world, weakening or withdrawing NATO troops and withdrawing U.S. troops."
On another front, Zelenski has denounced that Russia intends to initiate a "humanitarian operation" in Konstantinovka under the pretext of protecting civilians, but with the true intention of occupying the town and opening a corridor toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
"Putin simply wants us to leave Konstantinivka and for them to enter and occupy it entirely" after a year and a half of attempts that have been unsuccessful, he has said. "I have conveyed my position to the American negotiators: the people there are only citizens of Ukraine with weapons and citizens of Russia, occupiers, also with weapons," he explained.
As a warning, he cited the precedent of the truce in Oleshki, which made it possible to evacuate the civilian population, but at the same time facilitated Russian troops in consolidating and reinforcing their military positions in the area.
To conclude, Zelenski emphasized that only in the month of October Russia would have suffered 54,000 casualties between dead and seriously wounded, which, according to his figures, makes that month the deadliest for Russian forces since the start of the military escalation, almost five years ago.