Zelensky rules out ceding territory and says Kyiv must take part in negotiations

Rhyl Journal

7 days ago

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine 'will not give Russia any awards for what it has done' and that 'Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier'.
The remarks came after Mr Trump said he would meet with Vladimir Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with Mr Zelensky.
The Trump-Putin meeting, scheduled for Friday in Alaska, is seen as a potential breakthrough in the more than three-year war.
Mr Zelensky dismissed the planned summit, warning that any negotiations to end Europe's biggest conflict since the Second World War must include Kyiv.
'Any decisions that are without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not bring anything. These are dead decisions. They will never work,' he said.
In a statement posted to Telegram, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine's territorial integrity, enshrined in the constitution, must be non-negotiable.
Ukrainian officials previously told The Associated Press privately that Kyiv would be amenable to a peace deal that would de facto recognise Ukraine's inability to regain lost territories militarily.
– The Trump-Putin summit
The Trump-Putin meeting may prove pivotal in a war that began when Russia invaded its western neighbour and has led to tens of thousands of deaths, although there is no guarantee it will stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace.
'It seems entirely logical for our delegation to fly across the Bering Strait simply, and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska,' Mr Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said on Saturday in a statement posted to the Kremlin's news channel.
In his comments at the White House on Friday, Mr Trump gave no details on the 'swapping of territories'.
Analysts, including some close to the Kremlin, have suggested that Russia could offer to give up territory it controls outside of the four regions it claims to have annexed.
Mr Trump said his meeting with Mr Putin would come before any sit-down discussion involving Mr Zelensky.
His announcement that he planned to host one of America's adversaries on US soil broke with expectations that they would meet in a third country.
– Reactions in Kyiv
On the streets of Kyiv, reactions to the idea of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia ranged from scepticism to quiet resignation.
'It may not be capitulation, but it would be a loss,' said Ihor Usatenko, a 67-year-old pensioner, who said he would consider ceding territory 'on condition for compensation and, possibly, some reparations'.
Anastasia Yemelianova, 31, said she was torn: 'Honestly, I have two answers to that question. The first is as a person who loves her country, I don't want to compromise within myself,' she told the AP.
'But seeing all these deaths and knowing that my mother is now living in Nikopol under shelling and my father is fighting, I want all this to end as soon as possible.'
Svitlana Dobrynska, whose son died fighting, rejected outright concessions but supported halting combat to save lives.
'We don't have the opportunity to launch an offensive to recapture our territories,' the 57-year-old pensioner said. 'But to prevent people from dying, we can simply stop military operations, sign some kind of agreement, but not give up our territories.'
– Ultimatums and sanctions
Before Mr Trump announced the summit, his efforts to pressure Russia to stop the fighting had delivered no progress.
Mr Trump had moved up an ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement.
The deadline was on Friday. The White House did not answer questions on Saturday about possible sanctions.
The Kremlin's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armour while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities.
On Saturday, two people died and 16 were wounded when a Russian drone hit a minibus in the suburbs of the Ukrainian city of Kherson, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
Two others died after a Russian drone struck their car in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.
Ukraine's air force said it intercepted 16 of the 47 Russian drones launched overnight, while 31 drones hit targets across 15 different locations.
It also said it shot down one of the two missiles Russia deployed.
Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 97 Ukrainian drones over Russia and the Black Sea overnight and 21 more Saturday morning.