3 days before the crucial summit in Alaska, Zeenski calls the key region from where he will not withdraw his troops: “Putin will have a free path”

President Volodimir Zelenski said on Tuesday that he will reject any proposal of the Ukrainian troops withdrawal from the Donbas region, from the east of the country, as it would deprive the Kiev from the defensive lines and would open the path of the Russian army for new offensive, informs Reuters.

The Ukrainian leader told reporters that territorial issues should be discussed after Russia will accept an armistice, and security guarantees for Ukraine should be an integral part of this discussion.

Before the Friday summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, scheduled in Alaska, Zelenski reiterated that Ukraine should be involved in any negotiations on its own territory. Trump has suggested that an exchange of territories will be part of any hypothetical peace agreement.

Zelenski said that Russia's proposal was to stop the advance of his troops in other Ukrainian regions, in exchange for the withdrawal of Kiev forces in Donbas province, eastern Ukraine, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Zelenski said that Ukraine still controls about 30% of the Donetk region, which is about 9,000 square kilometers, and has strongly fortified defensive lines and controls high strategic lands.

Any withdrawal will create a launching ramp for new Russians offensives, he argued.

“Putin will have a free way to both Zaporojie and Dnipro regions and Kharkov,” Zelenski added.

“The territorial problem cannot be separated from the security guarantees,” the Ukrainian leader insisted.

“They cannot make decisions about Ukraine without us”

Also on Tuesday, just three days before the meeting in Alaska between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, President Zelenski excluded decisions regarding Ukraine during the meeting between the leaders of the two great powers, previously reported DPA and Agerpres.

“They cannot make decisions about Ukraine without us,” said the President of Ukraine, according to the Kiev RBC-UKRAINE news agency.

Volodimir Zelenski expressed his hope that Donald Trump is aware of this.

However, he said that Friday's meeting between Donald Trump and the Kremlin leader “can certainly be important for their bilateral path.”

The head of the Ukrainian state also expressed his confidence that a trilateral meeting between him, Trump and Putin will eventually take place to end the war that lasts almost three and a half years.

Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin also want to negotiate a Russian war against Ukraine, DPA noted.

Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to put an end to the blood spill as quickly as possible.

At the beginning of the week, the US president said he will not make an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine war because it is not his responsibility.

Ukraine's European allies and Kiev leadership are afraid that Putin and Trump could make decisions on the account of Ukraine.

Ukraine has been defending itself for more than three years, with Western support, against the Russian invasion.