Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has disclosed that the United States proposed a possible exchange involving Ukraine withdrawing from the eastern Donbas region in return for membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Zelensky said American negotiators raised the possibility during recent discussions aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine, describing it as the first time Washington had presented such an arrangement.

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He spoke to journalists on Friday, with his comments released on Saturday, November 14, 2026, following two days of US-mediated peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

According to AFP, Zelensky said the American delegation asked whether Ukraine would consider leaving Donbas if it were granted NATO membership.

“The Americans raised a question: ‘What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?’ This was the first time this had been raised,” he said.

The Donbas region comprises Donetsk and Luhansk, two eastern Ukrainian territories that have remained central to the conflict.

However, Zelensky stressed that any decision involving territorial concessions would require the approval of the Ukrainian people, insisting that he could not make such a decision unilaterally.

“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,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader said Kyiv was also discussing security guarantees from NATO and the European Union, arguing that any agreement must provide credible protection against another Russian invasion.

He maintained that Ukraine was not prepared to surrender its territory but would consider presenting the proposal to citizens if a comprehensive security arrangement was secured.

Zelensky added that NATO membership had returned to the negotiating agenda, although he acknowledged that reaching an agreement would be difficult given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s position.

On another issue discussed during the negotiations, Zelensky said Moscow had rejected Kyiv’s proposal for a ceasefire covering attacks on energy infrastructure.

“On the proposal for an energy ceasefire: the Russians don’t want it,” he said.

He also accused Putin of using a proposed humanitarian mission to the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka as an attempt to force Ukrainian troops out of the area.

“Putin simply wants us to leave Kostiantynivka so that they can move in and occupy the entire city that way,” Zelensky alleged.

The Ukrainian president further warned that Russia was preparing to intensify its military campaign during the coming winter, describing Moscow’s demands for changes to Europe’s security arrangements as dangerous.

The Abu Dhabi negotiations, mediated by US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, ended without a major breakthrough.

However, the parties reportedly agreed that European representatives should participate in future discussions.

The talks formed part of renewed diplomatic efforts by US President Donald Trump’s administration to end the conflict, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Before the latest meeting, Russia had maintained that Ukraine must surrender the entire Donbas region as a condition for a peace agreement.

Zelensky has repeatedly rejected the demand, insisting that Kyiv would not give up territories defended by its forces.

Putin has also demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, four regions Moscow claimed to have annexed in September 2022, despite not controlling all the territories.

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The United States, Russia and Ukraine had previously held three rounds of trilateral negotiations in January and February 2026, but diplomatic efforts stalled before the latest Abu Dhabi discussions.