Ukraine did not agree to a new American proposal to revise the borders in Donbas, which representatives of US President Donald Trump considered as a possible compromise to unblock negotiations with Russia.
This was reported by The Telegraph, citing a Ukrainian source close to the negotiation process.
According to the publication, American mediators proposed a variant of territorial settlement that involved changing the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Such a scheme could allow Moscow to claim full control over Donbas within the new administrative borders, without requiring Ukraine to withdraw troops from cities that remain under its control.
However, the Telegraph interlocutor denied Kyiv's readiness for territorial concessions. According to him, the Ukrainian delegation did not discuss the possibility of ceding territories occupied by Russia, and has no intention of recognizing Russian territorial claims either de facto or de jure.
The source emphasized that this position of Ukraine remained unchanged throughout the negotiations.
At the same time, the publication does not report whether the American initiative was formalized as an official document and whether it was formally rejected by the Ukrainian delegation. Information about Kyiv's position is based on the words of an unnamed interlocutor.
American proposal on Donbas
Earlier it was reported, citing The Economist, that American negotiators are considering changing the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as one of the options for compromise with the Kremlin.
The idea was to allow Russia to declare fulfillment of its territorial demands without actually transferring to it the Ukrainian cities that Russian troops failed to capture.
Now The Telegraph reports on the Ukrainian side's reaction to this approach. The main obstacle to reaching an agreement remains Moscow's demand to transfer to it the territories of Donbas controlled by Ukraine.
According to the publication's assessment, Russia claims approximately 5 thousand square kilometers of territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions that its troops do not control.
Negotiations in Abu Dhabi
The territorial issue is being discussed against the backdrop of a new round of negotiations between Ukraine, the US and Russia, which began on November 10 in Abu Dhabi.
American mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are simultaneously working on future security guarantees for Ukraine and broader security agreements in Europe.
During a separate meeting on November 10, representatives of Ukraine, the US, European states and NATO confirmed that any future agreements must respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and the right of Ukraine to make decisions independently.
On Wednesday, November 11, the trilateral negotiations continued. The head of the Ukrainian delegation, Rustem Umerov, reported that after the meeting with the US and Russia, separate consultations with European partners are planned.
No official agreements on border changes or territorial concessions have been announced as a result of the negotiations so far.
Based on materials from: The Telegraph, Council of the EU, Rustem Umerov
