OMM Newsroom
US officials involved in talks have raised the possibility of Ukraine withdrawing from the Donbas region in the country’s east in exchange for NATO membership, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
According to AnewZ, Zelensky said US officials raised the question after the latest peace talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi, which ended on Wednesday, November 11. In a statement released by his office on Saturday, the president said: “The Americans asked: ‘If Ukraine joins NATO, would it withdraw from Donbas?’ It was the first time this issue had been raised.”
Zelensky stressed that Kyiv had no intention of withdrawing from its territory. However, he said he could put the issue to a referendum if Ukraine received a comprehensive security package, including security guarantees, a strong and adequately funded army, and funds for the country’s reconstruction.
Donbas comprises Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Russia controls most of Luhansk and at least 70% of Donetsk. Moscow has previously said any agreement should give Russia control of all of Donbas.
Zelensky has repeatedly said that only Ukrainians can decide on territorial concessions. In December 2025, he said elections or a referendum would be needed to approve such a plan.
Washington had previously proposed that Ukrainian troops withdraw from Donbas and that a “free economic zone” be established in the areas still under Kyiv’s control. Zelensky rejected the proposal as unworkable. The Kremlin, meanwhile, has demanded that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO as part of any agreement.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its forces had captured the settlement of Tersianka in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region. The ministry also said Russian forces had struck Ukrainian energy and transport infrastructure used for military purposes, ammunition depots, and drone production and storage sites, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.
Zelensky wrote on the social network X that he had returned from visits to Denmark and Ireland with “concrete results.” He said Denmark had allocated a new 645 million-euro defense package and a 20 million-euro energy package, and noted that Britain had imposed new sanctions targeting Russia’s oil sector. He put the defense package at $715 million and the energy package at $22 million.
“We discussed with all our European partners how to help Ukraine get through this winter,” Zelensky said. He added that the talks also addressed strengthening air defenses and support for the energy sector and railways.
Zelensky said Ukraine was working to close the two remaining negotiating clusters with the European Union by the end of the year. He said he had discussed the issue with European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The Ukrainian president also said he had held important talks with the prime ministers of Ireland, Poland, Italy and the Czech Republic, as well as the president of Lithuania. In Dublin, he wrote, meetings were held with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner aimed at bringing peace closer.
