Zelensky says US proposes land swap for NATO membership

KYIV:

The United States suggested for the first time that Ukraine cede land to Russia in exchange for joining NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in comments released Saturday, adding that Russia had rejected an energy target ceasefire at talks this week.

Zelensky said Russia was "betting everything" on this winter's campaign in its war with Ukraine, while warning that the Kremlin's demands to redraw Europe's security architecture are "dangerous" and could lead to more wars.

Zelensky spoke to the media Friday after visits to Denmark and Ireland, where he met with European leaders following two days of US-brokered Ukraine-Russia talks in Abu Dhabi.

The talks ended with no breakthrough in Europe's worst war since World War II, but all sides agreed that European officials should be included in future negotiations.

"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 in the comments kept under embargo until Saturday.

He said Ukraine was discussing "specific security guarantees from NATO and the EU" and that if Western countries confirmed them "then 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."

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff attended the Abu Dhabi talks and then met after with Putin and Zelensky separately.