Zelensky was asked whether Kyiv was considering the issue of “giving up some territories” to the occupying country during peace negotiations.
“We have no right under the law, under the law of Ukraine, under our Constitution, under international law, to be honest, and we have no moral right either,” the president said.
Zelensky added that the Russian Federation “certainly insists” that Ukraine “give up the territories.”
“We, of course, do not want to give anything away. This is what we are fighting for,” the president emphasized. “The Americans today are looking for a compromise. I will be frank.”
Context
The Ukrainian and US delegations have already held seven rounds of negotiations on a “peace plan” for resolving the Russian-Ukrainian war. In parallel, the American side is holding discussions on the same issue with the aggressor country of the Russian Federation.
In particular, on December 2, illegitimate Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the son-in-law of the head of the White House Jared Kushner at negotiations in Moscow for about five hours discussed several projects of a “peace plan” to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian war, Putin’s assistant Yuri Ushakov reported after the meeting. According to him, “no compromise was found” on the territorial issue. One of the main issues at the negotiations was Ukraine’s membership in NATO, Ushakov noted.
On December 3, Trump expressed the opinion that Putin “would like to end the war.” However, on December 4, Putin said that the Russian Federation would allegedly “in any case” seize the Ukrainian Donbass and the territories of southern Ukraine – “militarily or otherwise.” Putin's new statements indicate that he does not intend to retreat from his maximalist goals in the war against Ukraine, Politico explained.
In transcripts of telephone conversations between European leaders published on December 4 by Spiegel, the latter questioned US peacekeeping initiatives. EU leaders warned Zelensky that the US could betray Ukraine and Europe. They noted that the Ukrainian president must be “extremely careful in the coming days.”
The media reported that there are three pillars on which the Russian Federation will not agree to a compromise in peace negotiations on Ukraine: the territory of Donbass, limiting the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and recognition of the occupied territories of Ukraine by America and Europe.
Zelensky, in an interview published on December 8, said that elements of the US plan require further discussion of a number of “sensitive issues,” in particular regarding territorial issues and security guarantees for Ukraine.
