Former Ukrainian presidential spokeswoman Yuliia Mendel has claimed that President Volodymyr Zelensky was prepared to hand over the Donbas to Russia during peace negotiations in 2022 – allegations the Presidential Office swiftly dismissed as baseless and detached from reality.
Mendel made the remarks in an interview with controversial US commentator Tucker Carlson, a frequent critic of Ukraine and Western military aid who has repeatedly amplified Kremlin narratives.
According to Mendel, members of Ukraine’s delegation at the Istanbul talks in spring 2022 allegedly agreed to nearly all Russian demands in an effort to stop the war.
“I spoke with people who represented Ukraine at the Istanbul negotiations in 2022,” Mendel said. “And they explained to me in detail that they agreed to everything. Moreover – and this is very important – they said that Zelensky personally agreed to give up Donbas.”
Mendel offered no evidence to support the claims and did not identify any of the alleged sources she referenced.
Ukraine’s Presidential Office rejected the allegations outright, saying Mendel had no role in the negotiations or access to high-level state decision-making.
“This lady did not participate in the negotiations, did not take part in decision-making, has long lost touch with reality, and who supposedly tells her these things – or whether any of it happened at all – is not something serious to comment on,” a Presidential Office source told journalists.
The comments come as Russia continues to push narratives portraying Ukraine as willing to concede occupied territory while simultaneously demanding Kyiv abandon its NATO ambitions and recognize Moscow’s claims over annexed regions.
Did Ukraine agree to give up the Donbas in 2022?
Conceding the Donbas region was reportedly among the issues discussed during multiple rounds of 2022 peace talks, though it remains unclear whether any agreement was reached.
During the negotiations, Ukraine reportedly offered neutrality in exchange for security guarantees and the return of annexed territories, including the Donbas and Crimea. However, one draft following the March 29 talks in Istanbul reportedly envisioned Russian withdrawals from several Ukrainian regions while leaving Crimea and the Donbas under Moscow’s control, according to local outlet European Pravda at the time.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, said Crimea’s status would be revisited after 15 years.
The talks ultimately collapsed and fighting resumed, while Kyiv has denied agreeing to concede the Donbas region.
Controversies surrounding Mendel, Carlson
The platform Mendel chose for the interview also drew attention in Kyiv. Tucker Carlson has become one of the most prominent US voices echoing Kremlin talking points since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
In 2024, Carlson traveled to Russia to conduct a widely criticized interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, followed by another interview with ultranationalist ideologue Aleksandr Dugin.
Mendel, who served as Zelensky’s press secretary from 2019 to 2021, has previously made a series of controversial allegations against senior Ukrainian officials.
In past interviews, she accused Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak of engaging in “magic rituals” involving cemeteries and “dead water,” while claiming she feared for her life because of him – again without providing evidence.