Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that there is no way Ukraine can retake parts of the Donbas and Crimea, which remain under Russian control.
The Ukrainian army does not have the strength to retake the Russian-occupied Donbas and Crimea, but Kiev cannot give up these areas, Zelensky said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Parisien. He added that Ukraine can only rely on diplomatic pressure from the international community to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to start negotiations.
Previously, the Ukrainian president took the position that talks with Moscow would only be possible after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the entire territory of Ukraine within the 1991 borders, including Crimea.
Zelensky: No one has the right to negotiate with Putin without Ukraine
Zelensky emphasized that no world leader “has the right to negotiate with Putin without Ukraine.” He mentioned newly elected US President Donald Trump, who wants to act quickly to end the war. According to Zelensky, Trump is not yet in the White House and does not yet have access to all information about the war to draw conclusions.
Ukraine’s president called it “dangerous” to freeze hostilities before starting negotiations with Russia. He expressed hope that after Trump takes power as president, the United States will continue to support Ukraine and increase military aid.
– The United States has been and remains our main donor in this war, although I would like to emphasize that for Ukraine both Europe and the US are important. America can influence Putin, the European Union is our future, he said.
Russian conditions for ending the war
In June this year The Kremlin announced the terms of a ceasefire and the start of negotiations with Ukraine. Putin demanded that Kiev withdraw troops from the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, and ensure that Ukraine would not join NATO.
According to Zelensky, starting negotiations with Putin on his terms means “giving him the right to decide everything in our part of the world.” The Ukrainian president called for the initial development of an “action plan or peace plan” that could be submitted to Putin “or, more broadly, to the Russians.”
Source: Do Rzeczy
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
