US suggested Kyiv cede land to Russia in exchange for joining NATO, Zelensky says

Washington has suggested Ukraine cede land to Russia in exchange for joining NATO, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in comments released Saturday, adding that it indicated his country's ties with the Western military alliance are "back on the agenda".

Zelensky also warned the Kremlin was "betting everything" on this winter's military campaign.

Moscow has pounded Ukraine in the run-up to the colder months, with Russian President Vladimir Putin showing no sign of backing down.

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met both Putin and Zelensky separately on Thursday after two days of talks with their delegations in Abu Dhabi, which ended with no breakthrough.

"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.

"After providing Ukraine with this kind of defence support, seeing this kind of development of our army and this strength in our defence, they cannot simply let Ukraine go," he added.

He said the discussion showed that "NATO is back on the agenda" for Ukraine.

Ukraine has long sought to enter the military alliance, which Moscow has considered a red line.

NATO and Washington have not yet commented directly on Zelensky's account.

Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, later posted on X that media had reported "maximalist propositions proposed by both sides, along with strong political rhetoric".

"However, we are determined to continue the hard work, maintain the confidentiality necessary for sensitive negotiations, and find a pathway to end this horrible war," he said, adding "several new ideas emerged from the discussions and are now being explored."

This week's meetings have led to agreements that European countries would join future talks on ending the war.

In Dublin on Friday, Europe chose five countries -- France, Germany, Italy, the UK and Poland -- to send representatives to the talks.

Russia meanwhile continued its bombardment of Ukraine on Saturday, with deadly strikes in the eastern city of Pavlohrad and in a village near Zaporizhzhia, which is now just a few dozen kilometres from the front line.

Zelensky said Kyiv was discussing security guarantees with Western partners and that Ukrainians would ultimately decide whether to accept any deal.

He insisted Ukraine would not recognise any land seized by Moscow's troops as Russian.

Russia has consistently said Kyiv joining NATO is a red line and in 2022 launched its invasion saying the West planned to incorporate Ukraine into the alliance.

Trump's administration has for almost two years tried to reach a breakthrough in talks between Russia and Ukraine.

The Kremlin has also ruled out foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine and wider ceasefires.

But Putin earlier this week proposed a "humanitarian" mission to the eastern town of Kostyantynivka, which Moscow announced it had seized in the summer but where Kyiv says fighting continues.

Zelensky said the proposal was a bid to advance Russian gains in Donetsk. "Their next steps will be our other cities in Donbas," he said.

Russian troops have inched westwards but have been unable to seize the whole of the Donetsk region.

Russia has tried to reframe negotiations on ending the war -- Europe's worst since World War II -- into a conversation on the continent's wider security.

In 2021, before its Ukraine invasion, Moscow issued an ultimatum to the West to pull back NATO troops from eastern Europe.

Moscow's chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, this week called for a "new, modern Yalta", drawing criticism from European leaders.

Zelensky warned that any discussion of wider security arrangements should come only after the war has ended.

European leaders have reacted coolly to the proposal for a new security architecture.

"We do not need to discuss that, it already exists," Germany's Friedrich Merz said Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday that "those who want to ration aid to Ukraine wish underneath it all to force an unjust peace on it" and, by extension, all of Europe.

"That is the spirit of defeat. That is a recipe for another war. That cannot be France's position," Macron said.

"Helping Ukraine defend itself is protecting France and the French," he added.