Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky early Saturday once again dismissed the idea of Ukraine ceding land to Russia in proposed ceasefire talks.
“Of course, we will not give Russia any awards for what it has done," Zelensky said in a video message posted to Telegram. "The Ukrainian people deserve peace."
He added that "all partners" must understand peace and that "Ukrainians will not give their land to an occupier."
The Ukrainian leader's comments come just hours after the White House's imposed deadline for a peace agreement between the nations lapsed. Trump on Friday proposed a land swap as a possible concession in his push to end the more than three-year-long war.
“We’re going to get some back, and we’re going to get some switched. There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both,” Trump told reporters when asked about negotiations.
The president also announced that he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15, after failing to impose increased sanctions on the Kremlin as proposed last month. Trump had originally given Russia a 50-day timeline but later shortened it as Moscow continued its onslaught in Ukraine.
Zelensky also argued that any agreements made between Trump and Putin, that do not include Kyiv, will further undermine hopes for de-escalation in the region.
“Any decisions made against us, any decisions made without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace,” he said Saturday. “They will bring nothing. These are dead decisions; they will never work."
The White House did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Earlier this year, Zelensky said he would consider swapping portions of Ukraine for a small pocket of Russian territory, to include parts of Kursk Oblast, captured by Kyiv last year. However, the comments were made prior to the Kremlin’s land grabs resulting in the seizure of four Ukrainian border towns in late May.
Despite the clear change in heart, Trump signaled hope at the time that discussions would bring an end to the conflict.
“I think we’re going to have ceasefire on a lot of areas and so far, that’s all held very well,” the president told reporters at the time.
“In getting that ceasefire, they had a lot of guns pointing at each other. You had some soldiers unfortunately surrounded by other soldiers," he continued. "They are going to be — I believe we’re going to pretty soon have a full ceasefire, and then we’re going to have a contract, and the contract’s being negotiated, the contract in terms of dividing up the lands, etc., etc. It’s being negotiated as we speak.”
But the slow negotiation process led to the president becoming more frustrated with both Eastern European leaders, especially after Trump made ending the war quickly a major part of his campaign.
On Thursday, the president brushed off reports that he wanted Putin and Zelensky to meet before he would agree to a summit with the Russian leader.
"No, he would like to meet with me, and I’ll do whatever I can to stop the killing,” Trump said.
Source: The Hill - News
