President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that during negotiations American representatives asked him about the possibility of ceding Donbas in exchange for security guarantees. According to the head of state, in response to the question about Ukraine's membership in NATO, the American side proposed to consider guarantees similar to NATO ones, but without joining the Alliance.
This was stated by Zelensky in an interview with Danish publication DR Nyheder, fragments of which were published on November 10 on the official channel of the president.
The head of state recounted one of the conversations with American partners, during which the issue of territorial concessions by Ukraine was raised.
"When the Americans asked: 'Can you exchange Donbas for security?', I immediately replied: 'Can you tell me what that means? What security? NATO?'" - said Zelensky.
According to the president, in response he heard that it was not about NATO membership, but about a kind of analogue of the Alliance's guarantees.
"Not NATO, but something similar to NATO", - thus Zelensky conveyed the response of American representatives.
The president emphasized the contradiction between the demand to provide a clear answer regarding Ukrainian territories and the lack of the same certainty regarding future security guarantees.
"But you do not want the answer regarding Donbas to be 'similar'. You want a clear answer regarding Donbas", - he noted, explaining his position to American interlocutors.
At the same time, Zelensky did not specify when exactly this conversation took place and which US representatives participated in it. His words are not confirmation of reaching an official agreement on exchanging territories for security guarantees.
According to the president, even handing over the rest of Donbas to Russia would not guarantee an end to Russian aggression. He is convinced that Moscow could use territorial concessions for a temporary pause, after which it would resume offensive actions.
"Nobody believes that Putin will stop if we leave Donbas. He will pause. And then return in a year, two or five years", - declared Zelensky.
The president explained his position by Russia's previous actions. According to him, Moscow's statements about protecting the Russian-speaking population did not correspond to the real goals of the invasion, which covered much larger territories than Donbas, including an attempt to seize Kyiv.
Zelensky also reminded about Ukraine's renunciation of nuclear weapons and subsequent Russian aggression, emphasizing the necessity of effective, not declarative, security guarantees.
At the same time, the head of state called the fastest way to end the active phase of the war a ceasefire at the current positions with subsequent transition to diplomatic negotiations.
According to him, after the cessation of hostilities the sides could continue discussing complex issues of peaceful settlement. Such a negotiation process could last months or even more than a year, but a ceasefire would allow stopping the deaths of people and creating conditions for the resumption of economic activity.
Among the issues requiring further concord, Zelensky named mechanisms for monitoring the ceasefire, possible demilitarized zones, participation of European partners, and financing of Ukraine's reconstruction.
The president also criticized the approach under which Russia insists on agreeing on all provisions of a large-scale peace agreement before the cessation of hostilities. In his opinion, this allows Moscow to drag out negotiations and continue the war.
Zelensky's statements came amid a new round of negotiations between Ukraine, the US and Russia in Abu Dhabi, which began on November 10. Among the key topics of the meeting are the cessation of hostilities, territorial issues and future security guarantees of Ukraine.
Earlier "Kurs Ukraine" reported that Zelensky rejected the possibility of exchanging Ukrainian territories within peaceful settlement and emphasized that security guarantees cannot be defined by the Russian side.
Based on materials: Volodymyr Zelensky
