Russia-Ukraine war: US offers Ukraine NATO membership for surrendering Donbas – Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed that the United States proposed a potential agreement during peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on November 14, 2026. This arrangement would involve Ukraine withdrawing its forces from the eastern Donbas region in exchange for NATO membership.

Zelensky described this as the first time American officials had mentioned such a possibility during discussions to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The disclosure came during his address to journalists following two days of US-mediated negotiations in Abu Dhabi. The proposal would require Ukraine to cede territory in Donbas, a region comprising Donetsk and Luhansk, as part of a potential agreement to secure NATO admission.

However, Zelensky emphasized that any decision involving territorial concessions would ultimately be a matter for the Ukrainian people to decide. He stressed the need for NATO to provide reliable security guarantees to prevent another Russian invasion. Zelensky also revealed that Russia had rejected Ukraine's proposal for a ceasefire covering energy infrastructure attacks during the Abu Dhabi talks.

He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of attempting to leverage a proposed humanitarian mission to Kostiantynivka, a city in eastern Ukraine, to force Ukrainian forces to abandon it. Zelensky warned that Moscow was mobilizing all its resources for the winter military campaign and described Russia's demands for changes to Europe's security arrangements as dangerous, potentially leading to further conflicts.

Despite the lack of a major breakthrough, the parties agreed that European representatives should participate in future talks. The two-day Abu Dhabi negotiations were part of renewed diplomatic efforts by the US administration to conclude the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.