US proposes Ukraine cede territory in exchange for joining NATO: Zelensky

• The US reportedly suggested Ukraine cede Donbas for NATO entry, Zelensky said. He said this was the first time such a demand was raised.
• Talks in Abu Dhabi ended without a breakthrough. All sides agreed European officials should join future negotiations.
• Zelensky said Russia rejected an energy ceasefire and called Putin’s wider security demands “dangerous”, warning they could trigger more wars.

KYIV – Washington suggested Kyiv cede land to Moscow in exchange for joining NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in comments released on Nov 14, saying his country’s relationship with the Western alliance is “back on the agenda.”

Zelensky also warned of the dangers of Moscow’s push to redraw “influence” in Europe and said the Kremlin was “betting everything” on this winter’s military campaign.

Moscow has pounded Ukraine in the run-up to winter, with Russian President Vladimir Putin showing no sign of backing down.

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met both Putin and Zelensky Nov 12 after two days of talks in Abu Dhabi, which ended with no breakthrough.

Negotiations did, however, lead to agreements that European countries would join future talks on ending the war.

In Dublin on Nov 13, Europe chose five countries – France, Germany, Italy, the UK and Poland – to send representatives to the talks.

“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, adding:

“After providing Ukraine with this kind of defence support, seeing this kind of development of our army and this strength in our defence, they cannot simply let Ukraine go.”

He said the discussion showed that “NATO is back on the agenda” for Ukraine.

NATO and Washington have not yet commented.

Russia meanwhile continued its bombardment on Nov 14, with deadly strikes in the eastern city of Pavlohrad and in a village near Zaporizhzhia, which is now just a few dozen kilometres from the front line.

Kyiv seeks guarantees

Zelensky said Kyiv was discussing security guarantees with Western partners and that Ukrainians would ultimately decide whether to accept any deal.

He insisted Ukraine would not recognise any land seized by Moscow’s troops as Russian.

Russia has consistently said Kyiv joining NATO is a red line and in 2022 launched its invasion, saying the West planned to incorporate Ukraine into the alliance.

The Kremlin has also ruled out foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine and wider ceasefires.

But Putin earlier this week proposed a “humanitarian” mission to the eastern town of Kostyantynivka, which Moscow announced it had seized in the summer but where Kyiv says fighting continues.

Zelensky said the proposal was a bid to advance Russian gains in Donetsk. “Their next steps will be our other cities in Donbas,” he said.

Moscow’s troops have inched westwards but have been unable to seize the whole of the Donetsk region.

‘First, end the war’

Russia has tried to reframe negotiations on ending the war – Europe’s worst since World War II – into a conversation on the continent’s wider security.

In 2021, before its Ukraine invasion, Moscow issued an ultimatum to the West to pull back NATO troops from eastern Europe.

Moscow’s chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, this week called for a “new, modern Yalta”, drawing criticism from European leaders.

Zelensky warned that any discussion of wider security arrangements should come only after the war has ended.

European leaders have reacted coolly to the proposal for a new security architecture.

“We do not need to discuss that, it already exists,” Germany’s Friedrich Merz said Nov 13.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Nov 14 that “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.

“That is the spirit of defeat. That is a recipe for another war. That cannot be France’s position,” Macron said.

“What happens in Ukraine concerns us directly.... Helping Ukraine defend itself is protecting France and the French.”

Donald Trump’s administration has for almost two years tried to reach a breakthrough in talks between Russia and Ukraine. AFP