Zelensky rules out giving any of Ukraine’s territory to Putin in potential peace deal with Russia
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Zelensky rules out handing over part of Ukraine’s territory to Putin in a possible peace deal with Russia, insisting it would “leave Kiev weaker as a state.”
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out ceding territory
- He said that Russia would “keep coming back” if such commitments were made.
Voldymyr Zelensky has ruled out any peace deal with Vladimir Putin that sacrifices Ukrainian territory, saying such concessions “would weaken us as a state.”
The Ukrainian president said Russia would “keep coming back” if his country gave up territory before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.
In an interview with the BBC’s John Simpson, Zelensky said more Western weapons supplies would bring peace closer by helping Ukraine achieve victory.
He said: ‘Modern weapons hasten peace. Weapons are the only language that Russia understands.
Zelensky said he could not consider compromises with Putin’s regime because he could not trust the dictator.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he would not contemplate a peace deal with Russia that would cede Ukrainian territory.
The Ukrainian president said that a long-awaited spring offensive by Russia had already begun. Pictured: A Ukrainian soldier fires a mortar in the besieged town of Bakhmut
He also said that Ukraine could move into a closer association with the rest of Europe in the future.
He said: ‘Today our survival and unity is the only goal. We are moving towards Europe.
‘Ukraine chose this path, we cannot lose it. Ukraine wants security guarantees, we all want it, we are united.
Any territorial compromise would weaken us as a state.
‘It is not a commitment in itself. Why would we be afraid of that? There are millions of compromises in life.
‘The question is with whom? With Putin? No. Because there is no trust.
Dialogue with him? No. Because there is no trust.
Zelensky has repeatedly called for increased military support from Ukraine’s Western allies and met with UK and EU leaders last week to push for more supplies.
Asked if the UK could send fighter jets to the war-torn nation, Rishi Sunak said “nothing is out of the question”.
The Ukrainian president has been frustrated by the speed with which weapons are arriving from his allies, after tanks promised by several countries, including the UK, emerged that they would not reach Ukraine for several weeks.
He stressed the importance of increased military assistance in the face of a new Russian offensive that, he said, has already begun.
Zelensky also stressed the need for more weapons and support from Western countries to end the war. Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers take part in exercises in the north of England.
This month marks one year since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
Zelensky said attacks were “already happening from various directions” as Putin tries to regain ground in the war.
Russia is reportedly suffering some of its highest casualty rates of the war as it remains locked in fighting with Ukrainian forces in the east of the country.
Ukrainian army officials have reported that bodies of Russian soldiers are “piled up” in trenches around the besieged city of Bakhmut, a key target for Putin.
Meanwhile, in an effort to hide the losses, Crimean officials are said to be burning dead troops in crematoriums ’round the clock’.
Near the local crematorium in the village of Krasna Zorka, Crimea, “there is a constant line of military vehicles numbering up to 10 units,” the Ukrainian armed forces said.
The occupiers use these trucks to bring in dead Russian soldiers and mercenaries.