Zelensky for Fox News: Ukrainians will not support withdrawal from Donbas in the referendum

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview for Fox News that if the peace plan assumes the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the entire Donbas, which is what Russia wants, Ukrainians will reject this plan in a referendum. He also admitted that he did not think Russia wanted the war to end.

Zelensky thus referred to Russia's key demand that Ukrainian troops leave the still unoccupied areas of Donbas. Ukraine's president said that while US President Donald Trump was right when he said on Sunday during their joint press conference that Ukrainians want peace, they want a just peace and do not support withdrawal from Donbas.

– People want peace today. President Trump said he saw polls saying 85, maybe 87%. I want peace (…) This is our life. 87 percent supports it, but at the same time 85 percent is against withdrawing from the east, from Donbas. Everyone wants peace, but a just peace, he explained.

– All parties must understand that withdrawal from Donbas is the worst option. This is a big risk for Ukraine, unacceptable for Ukrainians (…) And the referendum will not be positive, Zelensky added.

According to American proposals, the territories of Donbas abandoned by Ukrainian troops would become a demilitarized zone and a special economic zone. However, Zelensky said during a conversation with journalists on WhatsApp that talks on this topic had only just begun and “there are no details yet.” Meanwhile, Kremlin representatives said that talks on this topic were premature.

When asked by Fox News journalist Bret Baier whether, like Trump, Zelensky believes that Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants peace, the Ukrainian president replied that “honestly, no.”

– I can't see it because I can't hear it. In public, he doesn't talk about peace (…) he says he can go further, he added.

The Ukrainian president's statements are fragments of the interview published so far, the full version of which will be broadcast at midnight from Monday to Tuesday, Polish time.

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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