In an interview with the Danish outlet DR Nyheder, as reported by RBC-Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy explained in detail why he is convinced that handing over Donbas would not guarantee an end to the war. He described talk of "giving up Ukrainian land for the sake of peace" as abstract and emphasized that the issue concerns not only geopolitical reality but also the philosophy behind the approach to the conflict.
"He will pause, then return"
Zelenskyy referred to the background of the conflict: according to him, the head of the Russian leadership publicly declared "goals" in Donbas and then launched an offensive on Kyiv, and he linked the argument about "protecting Russian-speakers" to events in Bucha and other settlements. "So it was not about Russian-speaking people," the President stressed. From this, he draws the conclusion: "Nobody believes that Putin will stop if we leave Donbas. He will take a pause. And then return in a year, two, or five years. And who will be to blame?"
The Americans' question: Donbas in exchange for security
Zelenskyy separately spoke about a dialogue with the American side, which he said directly asked if Ukraine was willing to trade Donbas for security. The President replied that it was unclear what kind of security was being discussed—whether it was NATO membership. "You want a clear answer regarding Donbas. That is your goal. And that is Putin's goal today," he stated. Furthermore, he said he asked a counter-question: what would happen if Ukraine received security guarantees, but without NATO. In this context, Zelenskyy recalled that nuclear weapons were removed from Ukraine and noted that while he is not a proponent of such weapons, in his estimation, after their removal, the Russians halted Ukraine's European integration, prevented NATO entry, and eventually began the occupation.
"Dialogue is better than weapons"
Zelenskyy sees the fastest path to ending the war as holding current positions, a ceasefire, and moving toward a diplomatic track. "It might take a month, two months, or a year. Or even longer than we expect today. But we end the hot phase of the war, and people stop dying," he said. According to his logic, when both sides hold their positions, a contact line is formed, mobilization rates slow down, the economy starts to function—and only then are negotiations possible. "Dialogue is better than weapons. That is why the best way to end this war is to replace weapons with words," the President declared, while admitting that such a format would raise many open questions: where to stop, what mandate the monitoring mission would have, what the role of the Europeans is, and where to find funds for reconstruction.
Context: Abu Dhabi and the border debate
Zelenskyy's statements came against the backdrop of the resumption of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the US, and Russia in Abu Dhabi for the first time since February; meetings are scheduled for two days, and European partners are not participating directly, conducting separate consultations with Kyiv. In parallel, as RBC-Ukraine reported, an idea is being discussed in the US to change the boundaries of Ukraine's regions so that Russia could claim full control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, while Ukraine would retain the cities currently held. Previously, in another interview, Zelenskyy indicated that about 19.3% of the country's territory is occupied and stated his readiness to freeze the conflict along the current front line while refusing to recognize the occupied territories as Russian.
