The United States has asked Ukraine whether it would give up the Donbas region in exchange for Nato membership, a proposal that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly rejected. Zelenskyy said Kyiv will not cede territory and described the Donbas-for-Nato idea as dangerous, arguing that it could enable Russian escalation rather than end the fighting.
Zelenskyy said he would be prepared to hold a referendum on territorial questions only if Ukraine received security guarantees, funding for its army and money to rebuild the country. He also rejected the idea of constitutional neutrality for Ukraine and said that Nato membership is not currently on the table. Neither the United States nor Nato has publicly commented on the proposal, leaving its status unclear.
The proposal surfaced as trilateral meetings between the United States, Russia and Ukraine took place this week, with European states set to join future talks. Zelenskyy insisted that the war must end before wider European security discussions begin. Kushner, who has been involved in the diplomacy, said that Washington is now focused on direct talks between Russia and Europe following the trilateral meetings, a shift that signals a changing structure for the negotiations.
Ukraine also accused the United States of slowing the supply of Starshield, the satellite communications service provided by SpaceX, which Zelenskyy described as a political decision rather than a technical one. The restrictions have been in place for five days, and Ukrainian drones cannot intercept jet-powered Shahed drones while the limits remain. Kyiv suspects the slowdown is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing concessions, a concern that Zelenskyy has voiced directly.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that the rationing of aid appears designed to force what he called an unjust peace, and warned of the prospect of future war if such pressure succeeds. His remarks add to European unease about the direction of the negotiations and about the role that military support is playing in them.
On the battlefield, Russia said it had struck a cargo ship at the Chornomorsk port, claiming the vessel played a military supply role. Russia also reported that Ukrainian strikes set oil tanks on fire at a pipeline station in Samara. Ukraine's General Staff said the Samara facility is part of Russia's oil export network, which makes it a strategic target in its view. In a separate attack, Ukraine's Emergency Service said 22 people were injured in a Russian assault on Zaporizhzhia, underlining the civilian cost of the continuing fighting.