A tough existential dilemma faces Volodymyr Zelensky as international negotiations to end the war in Ukraine appear to be entering their final phase, focusing, according to Corriere della Sera, on granting territory to Donbass in exchange for the country’s reconstruction and security guarantees from the West.

The peace agreement appears to be on paper, but it has not yet been signed. Zelensky hesitated until the last moment to confirm his trip to Davos, as the war’s evolution has now confronted him with a dramatic question of conscience: whether to accept Donald Trump’s proposal, at the risk of his commitments proving empty and leading to disaster, or to continue a war that has already cost, by some estimates, more than 100.000 lives and has imposed inhumane conditions on millions of Ukrainians.

The focus has now shifted to Abu Dhabi following the series of consultations in Davos and Moscow, where delegations from the US, Russia, and Ukraine are meeting – for the first time at a joint table – today and tomorrow.

In the negotiators’ suitcases are at least four different documents, which, in theory, make up the peace agreement. The first is a general umbrella document for the entire package, Croatian Prime Minister Andrei Plenković revealed to Corriere. Three crucial annexes follow. The politically most dangerous one for Zelensky provides, in essence, for the cession to Russia of the part of Donbass, and in particular 20% of the still free Donetsk region claimed by Moscow.

Plenkovich notes, however, that “it is important that the territory not be given de iure” so that “there is space and time to review what is negotiable,” leaving open a window for the territories to return in the future, when Putin is no longer in power.

For Zelensky, this concession could prove fatal. Ukrainian public opinion is strongly opposed, and the loss of the Donetsk fortifications would leave the front exposed to new Russian advances across the open plain to Dnipro and from there to Odessa. Such a scenario would, in practice, mean the end of independent Ukraine, as the country would lose access to the Black Sea and become dependent on Russian consensus for its exports.

To offset this huge risk, the United States is offering two crucial trade-offs. One document, uncovered by Politico, outlines an ambitious $800 billion public and private financing plan to rebuild and economically restart post-war Ukraine, led by BlackRock chief Larry Fink. The second envisages US security guarantees to Kiev, coupled with the deployment of European forces on Ukrainian territory.

Essentially, Zelensky is being asked to trade territory for money and Western defense guarantees. “I am optimistic. We have only one outstanding issue left – Donetsk. We have discussed many options, so it is resolvable. Zelensky is available,” said Whitkov.

However, nothing is yet closed. Finnish President Alex Stub revealed that there is also a document concerning the “order of implementation” of the agreement: first, the cession of Donetsk by Ukraine, while the 800 billion reconstruction plan remains, for the moment, only on paper, without secured funding. Meanwhile, it is unclear whether Putin will accept security guarantees that include the presence of NATO soldiers in Ukraine.