Why Zelensky rejected Trump’s peace formula

The two-day talks in Abu Dhabi this week between US, Russian and Ukrainian officials produced a prisoner-exchange agreement in principle – but left the core issues unresolved. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made clear that Kyiv will not accept territorial “concessions” in the Donbass as the price of a settlement.

Reports describe an American formula under which Russia would gain control over portions of the region without Ukraine necessarily abandoning every city it still holds, paired with security guarantees potentially comparable to NATO’s Article 5 and a wider security deal involving Europe.

Ukrainian sources have dismissed any formal plan to alter Donbass borders and reiterated long-standing red lines.