President Zelenskyy Offers to Drop Ukraine’s NATO Membership Bid (Worthy News In-Depth)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

BERLIN/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told U.S. envoys that Ukraine is willing to give up its bid to join NATO if it helps bring an end to the war with Russia, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The significant concession to halt Ukraine’s membership of the Western military alliance was made during closed-door talks in Berlin and was reviewed by Worthy News on Monday.

Diplomats said the move appeared to accelerate peace negotiations ahead of Christmas, raising cautious hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.

Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, said “a lot of progress was made” during meetings with Zelenskyy, which also involved Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, as part of Washington’s renewed push to broker a ceasefire.

The war, now nearing its fourth year, is estimated by Western and Ukrainian officials to have killed or wounded more than one million people, with some assessments placing the figure significantly higher.

Zelenskyy’s adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, said the Ukrainian leader would comment publicly on the talks once discussions were completed later Monday.

SECURITY GUARANTEES AT CENTER

Kyiv’s willingness to abandon NATO membership is conditional on receiving binding security guarantees from the United States and key European allies to deter future Russian aggression, according to diplomatic sources.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly said Ukraine cannot accept a peace deal that leaves it militarily vulnerable, and Ukrainian officials stressed that any guarantees must be legally enforceable, not merely political assurances.

Analysts caution that significant obstacles remain. U.S.-backed proposals under discussion reportedly also envision Ukraine relinquishing control over some Russian-occupied territories, an idea that remains deeply controversial in Kyiv and among large segments of the Ukrainian public.

Zelenskyy has publicly rejected permanent territorial concessions, though aides say discussions continue on sequencing, security mechanisms, and international oversight.

U.S. Democratic lawmakers warned against pressuring Ukraine into concessions that could reward Russian aggression.

Several Democrats questioned the nature of the proposed framework, arguing that what is being presented as a peace deal risks becoming a transactional arrangement driven by political and business interests rather than a durable settlement protecting Ukraine’s sovereignty.

‘RESPECTING SOVEREIGNTY IS KEY’

Democratic members of the U.S. Congress said any agreement must respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and avoid setting a precedent that borders can be changed by force.

Others stressed that Kyiv — not Washington or Moscow — must ultimately decide its security future.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut accused the Trump administration of what he described as a corruption of U.S. foreign policy.

“It’s being described as a peace plan to end the Russian war in Ukraine,” Murphy said. “But if you look at the details, it has nothing to do with peace. It is a business deal to make the people around Donald Trump rich.”

Murphy cited a Wall Street Journal newspaper report saying Russian President Vladimir Putin sent the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund — rather than his foreign minister — to discuss ending the war with Witkoff in Miami Beach, with Kushner also present.

TRUMP BUSINESS DEALINGS ALLEGED

Murphy alleged that Putin dispatched a figure tied to Russian oil revenues to appeal to business interests surrounding the Trump camp.

He noted that ExxonMobil was in discussions with Rosneft, Russia’s state-owned energy company, over a major natural gas project that would require sanctions relief.

Murphy also alleged that wealthy Trump donors were seeking to acquire the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and invest in Arctic gas projects. “That’s what Trump’s billionaire friends get,” Murphy said. “But what does Ukraine get? Nothing.”

Democrats say the proposed framework would require Ukraine to surrender territory, offer amnesty for alleged war crimes, and provide no meaningful long-term security guarantees.

However, President Trump, who has expressed interest in winning the Nobel Peace Prize, denies wrongdoing, saying he wants to end the bloodshed and suggested Ukraine cannot win the war.

“So sad millions of people are dead, including many, many soldiers,” Trump told news outlet POLITICO, claiming Ukraine had suffered heavy troop losses and already lost large stretches of coastline.

MANY KILLED, EUROPE WATCHES CLOSELY

Trump claimed that “last month they lost 27,000 soldiers and some people from missiles being launched into Kyiv.”

The figures cannot be verified independently, but military experts agree that both sides have seen staggering losses of soldiers who often still fight in trenches resembling those of World War I.

Trump also said that Ukraine “lost a whole strip of seafront. They lost a lot of land — very good land.”

Democrats warned they are closely monitoring the talks and would scrutinize any agreement that weakens long-term European security or undermines NATO.

Government leaders across Europe are following the negotiations with intense interest, wary that the outcome could reshape the continent’s security architecture for decades. European officials also fear that Trump’s growing impatience over the war he had pledged to end quickly could prompt him to walk away from peace talks while blaming Europe and Ukraine for blocking a deal.

For now, officials on all sides stressed that negotiations remain fragile, but acknowledged that Zelenskyy’s NATO concession marks one of the most dramatic shifts in Ukraine’s war posture since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

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