Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine has no legal or moral grounds for surrendering its territory after meeting with European leaders for talks in London.
The Ukrainian president made the comments as he joined French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for talks in London hosted by U.K. prime minister Sir Keir Starmer on Monday.
But amid a reported push by the U.S. for Ukraine to accept territorial losses in exchange for peace, Zelensky said Kyiv had no legal or moral grounds for surrendering Ukrainian land currently occupied by Moscow.
“It’s almost politically impossible for Zelensky to cede territories in the way the United States is asking him to,” Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow and director of military analysis at the think tank Defense Priorities, told Newsweek Tuesday.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian foreign ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
The Ukrainian president has reiterated Kyiv’s long-standing position that it was unconstitutional to surrender territory.
This again rules out any idea that it would give up the Donbas region, which consists of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts that Moscow partially occupies, in exchange for peace.
However, Zelensky’s comments come as Axios reported Ukrainian officials as saying that Kyiv was faced growing pressure from the U.S. to accept major territorial losses and other concessions under President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
What To Know
Zelensky spoke Monday after meeting with European partners to coordinate a strategy as the U.S. continues to push for a peace deal which includes proposals for Ukraine to give up land it still controls.
Zelensky said that he had met with the leaders of France, Germany and the U.K. for discussions on diplomatic work with the U.S. about security guarantees and reconstruction.
Europe’s leaders have expressed concerns that they are being sidelined from the negotiations, as the original 28-point peace plan, drafted by Russia and the U.S. imposed conditions seen as favoring Moscow.
A revised version which developed from talks that the U.S. held separately with Ukraine and Russia have left sticking points on security guarantees and the status of the eastern Ukrainian regions.
Zelensky told an online press conference that the U.S. was trying to find a compromise and the Russia was insisting Kyiv give up territories, adding, “we don’t want to cede anything.”
Kavanagh from Defense Priorities told Newsweek that surrendering territory is not something that Zelensky can sell to the Ukrainian people or its parliament. “Even if he said ‘yes’ and committed to it, there’s no way that he could implement that, so it would be an empty promise.”
The reality is that Ukraine’s battlefield situation is quite dire, as will be its economic situation if the European Union doesn’t mobilize frozen Russian assets, and so if there is no deal in the near term, Ukraine will likely continue to lose territory, said Kavanagh.
“It’s possible in six months, they will have lost the territory that the U.S. is asking them to give up and I think everyone knows that but given the political realities that Zelensky faces, that may be the only feasible option for him,” Kavanagh added.
What People Are Saying
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky: “Do we envision ceding territories? We have no legal right to do so, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. And we don’t have any moral right either.”
Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow and director of military analysis, Defense Priorities: “It’s almost politically impossible for Zelensky to cede territories in the way the United States is asking him to. It’s not something that he can sell to the people. It’s not something that he can sell to the parliament.”
What Happens Next
Zelensky said that Ukrainian and European officials would work on the 20 points of the revised peace plan and that counter-proposals could be ready by Tuesday evening to be sent to Washington.
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