KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will not give the Donbas region to Russia as part of a ceasefire deal, days ahead of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s meeting in Alaska.
The U.S. and Russian presidents are set to meet Friday to discuss a truce in the Ukraine war, which Trump said would require some exchange of territories.
“We will not leave Donbas. We cannot do this. Donbas for the Russians is a springboard for a future new offensive,” Zelenskyy told journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday.
“If today we leave Donbas, from our fortifications, from our reliefs, from the heights that we control, we will clearly open a bridgehead for preparing an offensive by the Russians. In a few years, Putin will have an open path to both the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions. And not only that. Also to Kharkiv.”
Trump said on Monday that a peace settlement would require “land swapping” done by both Ukraine and Russia, but did not specify which territories are on the table. “If it’s a fair deal, I will reveal it to the European Union leaders and the NATO leaders and also to President Zelenskyy,” Trump said. “I may say, ‘lots of luck, keep fighting,’ or I may say we can make a deal.”
Behind the scenes, the U.S. has floated the idea of Ukraine offering Donbas in return for Russia halting its offensive in the south, a person familiar with the matter told POLITICO.
“Any issue of territories cannot be separated from security guarantees. Otherwise, now they want to give them about 9,000 square kilometers, which is about 30 percent of the Donetsk region, and this is a bridgehead for their new aggression,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president also slammed the idea of a territorial exchange as a real estate deal.
“I am not going to surrender my country, because I have no right to do so,” Zelenskyy said. “The state is what, private property? 30 percent of the Donetsk region is what, my private property? Or yours? Or someone else’s? The exchange of territories is a very complex issue that cannot be separated from security guarantees for Ukraine, for our sovereign state and our people.”
While supporting Trump’s goal of ending the war quickly, he said a lasting ceasefire is needed before any substantive talks. “Any productive talks without [Ukraine] at the table will not work for us. They are possible, but they will not be accepted by us.”
Ukraine’s president said he does not know what Trump will discuss with Putin during the bilateral meeting, but hopes that Trump will push for a ceasefire — and ideally also impose sanctions.
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