United States negotiators have raised the possibility of Ukraine withdrawing from its eastern region of Donbas in exchange for joining NATO, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The proposal came after the latest round of peace talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi, and Zelenskyy said it was the first time the question had been raised. Bloomberg reported the same account, describing US peace envoys as asking whether Ukraine would give up Donbas to Russia in return for NATO membership.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv was still not willing to retreat from its territory, but he indicated that if Ukraine received a comprehensive security package, including security guarantees, a strong and well-funded army and funds for reconstruction, he would put the question to a referendum. He told reporters that NATO was back on the agenda, while noting Russian President Vladimir Putin's signals that the conversation was extremely difficult. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Russia wanted to discuss European security architecture, adding that Europe did not need to discuss that because one already existed, referring to the NATO alliance.S1
The diplomatic developments came amid continued fighting. Ukraine fired almost 1,200 drones at Russia in one of its biggest aerial attacks since the full-scale invasion nearly five years ago, and Russia's defence ministry said it downed 1,198 of them between late Thursday and early Friday. Strikes on three Russian regions killed seven people, including a 12-year-old, and wounded 17, local officials said, while Ukraine's General Staff said it hit an oil refinery in the Russian city of Volgograd, starting a fire.S1
Russia launched 117 drones against Ukraine, killing at least two people including a 17-year-old, authorities said. A single Russian attack on Friday on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia hit two five-storey apartment blocks and wounded 30 people, including six children. Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure caused widespread power outages across about half of the country's regions on Friday, according to first deputy energy minister Artem Nekrasov. Analysts and humanitarian organisations say the war has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of civilians.S1
