Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the United States raised the possibility of Ukraine withdrawing from its eastern Donbas region in exchange for joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, describing it as the first time Washington had presented the idea during negotiations to end the war with Russia.
Zelensky disclosed this while speaking to journalists on Friday, with his comments released on Saturday, November 14, 2026, following two days of US-brokered peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
According to AFP, the Ukrainian leader said American negotiators had asked whether Ukraine would be prepared to withdraw from Donbas if it was allowed to join NATO.
“The Americans raised a question: ‘What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?’ This was the first time this had been raised,” Zelensky said.
The proposal would involve Ukraine giving up territory in its eastern region of Donbas, which comprises Donetsk and Luhansk, as part of a possible arrangement to secure its membership of the Western military alliance.
However, Zelensky said Ukraine was discussing specific security guarantees from NATO and the European Union, adding that any decision on territorial concessions would require the consent of Ukrainians.
He said, “I will ask our Ukrainian society what it thinks: do we accept it or not? I have no right to make that decision on my own.”
Zelensky also said the proposed arrangement would depend on Western countries providing credible security guarantees to prevent another Russian invasion.
He said, “That is why I believe NATO is back on the agenda. But you have also heard (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s signals, and this is an extremely difficult conversation.”
The Ukrainian president reiterated that Kyiv was not prepared to surrender its territory, but said he would consider putting the question before Ukrainians if a comprehensive security package was secured.
In a separate development, Zelensky disclosed that Russia had rejected Ukraine’s proposal for a ceasefire targeting energy infrastructure during the Abu Dhabi negotiations.
“On the proposal for an energy ceasefire: the Russians don’t want it,” he said.
He also accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of using a proposed humanitarian mission to the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka as a pretext to force Ukrainian troops to withdraw.
“Putin simply wants us to leave Kostiantynivka so that they can move in and occupy the entire city that way,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian leader further warned that Russia was “betting everything” on its military campaign during the coming winter, adding that Moscow’s demands to reshape Europe’s security arrangements were “dangerous” and could trigger further conflicts.
The two-day negotiations in Abu Dhabi, which involved Russian and Ukrainian delegations and were mediated by US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, ended without a breakthrough.
However, the parties agreed that European officials should be included in subsequent negotiations, according to AFP.
The talks were part of renewed efforts by US President Donald Trump’s administration to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ahead of the negotiations, Reuters reported that Russia remained insistent that Ukraine surrender the entire Donbas region before a peace agreement could be reached, while Zelensky had repeatedly rejected giving up territory defended by Ukrainian forces.
Russian President Putin has also demanded that Ukraine withdraw its troops from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, four regions Moscow claimed to have annexed in September 2022, although it does not control all the territories.
The United States, Russia and Ukraine had previously held three other rounds of trilateral negotiations in January and February 2026, but diplomatic efforts stalled before the latest Abu Dhabi meeting, CBS News reported.
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