US offers Ukraine NATO membership in exchange for Donbas withdrawal, Zelensky says

The United States has for the first time raised the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO in exchange for withdrawing Ukrainian troops from Donbas, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky said he is ready to put such a proposal to a nationwide referendum if the US and other Alliance members confirm Ukraine's NATO membership perspective. He stressed that Ukraine would not recognize occupied territories as Russian under any scenario. Kyiv continues negotiations on a comprehensive security guarantees package involving NATO and the EU. Zelensky has repeatedly stated Ukraine will not voluntarily give up territories that Russian forces failed to capture during the full-scale invasion.