Ukraine is ready to talk about territorial changes as part of a peace agreement to end Russia’s invasion, but Kyiv won’t give up land that Moscow’s forces do not occupy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
“We need real negotiations,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Brussels, “which means they can start where the front line is now — the contact line is the best line for talking.”
Zelenskyy was speaking at a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before flying to Washington for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.
According to Zelenskyy, Russia has failed to conquer the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine, which Moscow has pushed to control since 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin “has been unable to take it for 12 years, and the constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible … to give up territory or trade land,” Zelenskyy said.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Trump told European leaders that he believed peace could be negotiated if Ukraine agreed to give up territory in the east of the country. Key parts of the Donetsk region, including the strategic cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, have held out against Russia’s full-blown invasion. The American president held talks with Putin on Friday in Alaska and claimed to have found agreement on “many points.”
Zelenskyy said he was open to negotiating with Putin himself at a future meeting to be brokered by Trump.
“Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral [of] Ukraine, United States [and] Russia,” Zelenskyy said. “So far, Russia gives no sign that trilateral will happen, and if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow,” he said.
POLITICO reported last week that Kyiv discussing territorial exchanges would be contingent on Russia first agreeing to — and adhering to — a ceasefire, something Moscow has continually declined to set a date for.
Top European leaders including the European Commission president, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will accompany Zelenskyy to the White House on Monday for further talks.
At the same time, Zelenskyy blasted growing speculation that the EU could move ahead with Moldova’s application to join the bloc, while Hungary continues to stand in the way of Ukraine’s accession as a member. The two neighboring countries have so far been twinned, moving ahead at the same time, but diplomats told POLITICO last week that Brussels could allow Moldova to proceed ahead of Kyiv.
“There can be no division between Ukraine and Moldova. That would simply be a very bad move to my mind,” said Zelenskyy. “If such a division takes place, it will automatically mean that Europe is divided on Ukraine.”
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