Ukrainian president says Kyiv not ready to concede Donbas but would put idea to a referendum in exchange for security guarantees and funding. What we know on day 1,726
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the US has asked for the first time if Ukraine would withdraw from parts of the eastern Donbas region that Russia does not control in exchange for Ukraine becoming a Nato member. But the Ukrainian president said his country would not surrender territory. “The Americans raised a question: ‘What if Ukraine joins Nato? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?’,” he said in remarks to reporters released by his office on Saturday. “That is why I believe Nato is back on the agenda.” But he said the suggestion, which would form part of a new postwar security framework for Europe, could allow Russia to weaken Nato and reshape borders. “This is dangerous because, in my view, it is precisely things like this that lead to wars or escalations,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy reiterated his position that Kyiv was not ready to concede territory but said that if it received a comprehensive package including security guarantees, the right to a strong and well-funded Ukrainian army and funds to rebuild, he would put the question to a national referendum. Echoing comments made by European leaders at a summit in Dublin on Friday, Zelenskyy dismissed Russia’s call for a broad agreement on European security architecture to be reached before the specifics are agreed on how to end the war in Ukraine. “We cannot turn everything upside down and start by talking about changing the security framework in the world or across the continent overall, and only then talk about ending this war. This war must be ended first,” he said.
The Ukrainian president has also rejected the possibility of Ukraine committing to neutrality, something that could only happen if the country’s constitution was changed. “If Putin expects Ukraine’s neutrality to be enshrined, that’s not going to happen,” he said. “We’re not in Nato right now anyway.”
US President Donald Trump’s envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner said on Saturday the US was focused on facilitating direct engagement between Russia and European nations on the Ukraine war, after trilateral meetings involving Washington, Moscow and Kyiv this week. However, Washington and Nato have not yet commented on the suggestion of a swap of the Donbas for Ukraine Nato membership. Negotiations did, however, lead to agreements that European countries would join future talks on ending the war.
Zelenskyy has accused SpaceX of not telling the truth over restrictions to Ukraine’s Starshield satellite system, saying the decision to impose speed limits appears to be “political” rather than “technical”. Speaking on Friday, Ukraine’s president said the restrictions affecting Ukrainian drones, in place for five days, meant they could no longer intercept incoming jet-powered Russian Shahed drones. Ukraine suspects the slowdown is a deliberate US tactic, designed to put pressure on Zelenskyy to make concessions to Putin.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday that countries seeking to limit aid to Ukraine want to impose an “unjust peace” and warned that it was a recipe for another war. “Those who want to ration aid to Ukraine wish underneath it all to force an unjust peace on it” and, by extension, all of Europe, Macron said on social media. “That is a recipe for another war. That cannot be France’s position.”
Russian forces struck a cargo vessel in the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk, RIA news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying on Saturday. The ministry said the ship was being used to supply the Ukrainian military. Meanwhile, Ukrainian strikes on the Samara oil pipeline station near the village of Prosvet in Russia’s Samara region on Friday set several oil storage tanks on fire, Ukraine’s General Staff said. The facility is a key part of the network exporting Russian oil to global markets, the General Staff said. Separately, 22 people were injured in a Russian attack on the south-east Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Friday, Ukraine’s Emergency Service said.
