Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday evening that Ukraine “never give up” Russia's occupied territory, expressing doubts about Trump-led efforts to bring peace, suggesting that the president was being fooled by Vladimir Putin.
Talk to a French paper Le Figaro Prior to yet another summit in Paris, Zelensky once again appears to be encouraged by his European allies.
“One thing is certain, we will never give away the occupied territory to Russia. These lands belong to the Ukrainians,” Zelensky said. I said.
“When will we get them back? Perhaps not soon. This may have to be done diplomatically. Diplomacy brings fewer casualties,” he added.
Since the invasion in 2022, Russia has seized most of the territory of the Ukrainian region of Donetsk, Luhansk, Herson and Zaporidia, in addition to taking over Crimea in 2014.
Ukraine showed surprising early success against Russia's much larger Russian troops, but three years later, initially the mobile war quickly became a state of trench and relatively static. Since then, Ukraine has not been able to militarily regain much more territory, even at the cost of life. However, it appears that Zelensky and his European supporters are demanding that Zelensky and his European supporters abandon the territory that Russia has struggled with.
The Russians are trying to argue that these regions are for granted. It has pointed out that much of the region is Russian speakers, but of course, most Ukrainian speakers have already fled at this stage.
Earlier this week, US Special Envoy Steve Witkov said that the willingness to admit that it has lost its Ukraine's and, in fact, Russia, a part of the world, is key to whether a peace settlement can be reached between Moscow and Kiyikh.
The Ukrainians infuriated Witkov's comments and demanded that President Trump plunder his top envoys against the conflict. Continuing his suspicious stance towards the US leaders that had notoriously clashed at the White House last month, Zelensky suggested that Vladimir Putin and the Russians were cornering Trump.
“Donald Trump has tried to create good diplomatic relations with Russia. But this kind of approach doesn't work with a man like Putin… If Donald Trump eases sanctions against Russia, he can only speculate on one thing. He is a weak president and therefore can take the next step.”
The Ukrainian leader accused Moscow of being stuck during negotiations, claiming that while his side had been trying to accept an unconditional ceasefire during talks in Saudi Arabia, the Russians laid out a list of prerequisites, such as lifting sanctions. This demonstrated that Vladimir Putin was not serious about seeking peace reconciliation, Zelensky argued.
Zelensky allegedly “Putin is trying to buy time and is preparing for a spring attack,” and claimed that Kiev shared “allies, allies and communities” about Moscow's plans and launched further attacks in the Smie and Khalkiv regions.
“[Putin] I already wanted to start this operation eight months ago, but my intervention in Kursk prevented him. That's why he needs time today,” he said.
Zelensky's comments came before another summit of European leaders in Paris on Thursday. Meanwhile, they will further discuss the prospects of British and European peacekeeping forces being deployed in Ukraine if a peace settlement occurs.
At a press conference ahead of the meeting, French President Macron announced an additional 2 billion euros in military aid to Kiev, saying, “It's about starting Ukraine. France will continue its commitment in consultation with European partners and allies.”
The French president also requested that Russia agree “no prerequisites” to a 30-day ceasefire. This came as the European Union said that sanctions against Moscow would not be lifted unless the Russians retreated from Ukraine's “all territory.”
“The end of the unprovoked and unjust Russian attacks in Ukraine and the unconditional withdrawal of all Russian troops from all Ukrainian territory will be the main prerequisite for altering or eliminating sanctions,” a Brussels spokesman said.
