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No offer was made to rename Donbas as ‘Donnyland’ to flatter Trump, Zelenskyy says
Luke Harding
in Kyiv
Meanwhile, Ukraine’ Volodymyr Zelenskyy downplayed a New York Times report claiming that Ukraine had offered to rename the country’s Donbas region “Donnyland”, in honour of the US president, Donald Trump.
US president Donald Trump greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Mar-a-Lago club in December last year. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesThe paper said the idea was initially suggested as a joke. It was then proposed in negotiations as a way to flatter Trump and encourage him to take a tougher line on Russia, it added.
Replying to a question from the Guardian, Zelenskyy denied “Donnyland” was raised in talks.
He said:
“During my negotiations, no terms other than ‘Donetsk Oblast’, ‘Luhansk Oblast’, ‘our Donbas’ or ‘territory of Ukraine’ were used. Accordingly, documents exist that state all of this.”
Ukraine’s president said he could not comment on discussions about “other names”.
He added:
“In my view, the main thing is that the Donetsk region and the Luhansk region remain Ukrainian territory, as they are, so that there is no ‘Putinland’. That, to me, seems to be the most important thing.”
The White House has repeatedly pressured Ukraine to give the eastern Donbas to Russia as part of a peace deal and has suggested the region become a Russian-policed demilitarised zone. The Kremlin claims Trump agreed to a handover during his August summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Zelenskyy rejects this. He says he cannot cede territory under Ukraine’s constitution and points out that around 200,000 civilians live in the northern part of Donetsk Oblast that Kyiv still controls.
Ukrainian commanders believe Putin would violate any peace deal and use Donbas – or ‘Donnyland’ – as a springboard for future attacks.
ShareMorning opening: EU set to sign off on €90bn loan for Ukraine, sanctions on Russia
Jakub Krupa
EU leaders are set to meet in Cyprus this evening to discuss the latest on the Middle East and the next EU budget, starting in 2028.
A person walks past a logo of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026 ahead of a summit of the European Union leaders and regional partners in Nicosia. Photograph: Yves Herman/ReutersBut it looks like they will have a bit of a detour – and a reason to celebrate, too – as the long-awaited €90bn loan for Ukraine and the 20th package of sanctions against Russia are on course to be unblocked after four months of delays caused by Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.
After securing political agreement yesterday, the decision is now going through a formal written procedure, which is set to be completed by 1pm Brussels time.
Hungary and Slovakia have made it clear that they will no longer block the two measures if Russian oil deliveries restart through the Druzhba pipeline, and Slovakia’s economy minister Denisa Saková said that the flow has resumed overnight. A similar confirmation is expected from Hungary soon.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to join the EU leaders in Cyprus in person to mark this milestone.
In sharp contrast, the bloc’s disrupter in chief, Orbán, will skip what would be his last EU summit (for now), losing the status of the longest-serving member of the European Council (15 years, 327 days) to Poland’s Donald Tusk (14 years, 73 days).
Separately, I will keep an eye on Prince Harry’s unexpected visit to Kyiv, and EU commissioner Maroš Šefčovič’s talks in the US on trade.
I will bring you all the key updates here.
It’s Thursday, 23 April 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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