President Zelensky has admitted that Ukraine’s armed forces ‘lack the strength’ to retake its territories seized by Russia.
In a recent interview with French newspaper Le Parisien, the Ukrainian president said that while his country would never recognise Russian rule, Western diplomatic pressure was the only thing that could force Moscow out of Crimea and the Donbas.
‘We cannot give up our territories. The Ukrainian constitution forbids us to do so. De facto, these territories are now controlled by the Russians. We do not have the strength to recover them,’ he told the outlet.
‘We can only count on diplomatic pressure from the international community to force Putin to sit down at the negotiating table.’
When asked whether he would meet face-to-face with Vladimir Putin, Zelensky remarked:’It’s not about who sits across from you; it’s about the position you’re in when negotiating.
‘I don’t believe we’re in a weak position, but we’re also not in a strong one. Will we join NATO? We don’t know. Will we become part of the European Union? Yes, eventually, but when?’
Zelensky said that entering negotiations with Putin under the current conditions would allow the Russian leader to dictate the terms.
‘First, we need to develop a model, an action plan, a peace plan — call it what you will. Then, we can present it to Putin or, more broadly, to the Russian people,’ he explained.
The Ukrainian president also emphasised that no world leader ‘has the right to negotiate with Putin without Ukraine.’
‘We have not delegated this mandate to anyone. We are the victims,’ Zelensky said.
Last month, Zelensky suggested that Ukraine could abandon its attempts to reclaim the occupied territories in exchange for NATO membership.
But while the western military alliance has said Ukraine will be invited to join at some point in the future, it has not offered a specific timeline or path to membership.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and currently controls around 80% of the Donbas region, which it now claims is part of Russian territory. It has also seized control of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, but does not control the main cities in either area.
A much-anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023 failed to retake any occupied territory, although Ukraine currently controls territory in the Russian province of Kursk after launching a surprise incursion into the region over the summer.
Incoming US President Donald Trump claims to have a plan to end the conflict in Ukraine within a day of taking office, which he has enlisted former general Keith Kellogg, his pick for Russia and Ukraine envoy, to oversee.
(Picture: AFP)
Although the details remain vague, it is thought the plan involves freezing conflict on the frontlines, offering territorial concessions and suspending Ukraine’s NATO application in exchange for providing continued security assistance to Kyiv and partially lifting sanctions against Russia.
Other rumoured proposals include creating a demilitarised zone along the frontlines staffed with NATO troops, which would be monitored by the UN.
Russia has responded by saying the peace is only possible if Ukraine agrees to surrender Crimea and all other territory seized by Russia since 2022. Ukraine would also be forced to withdraw troops from the cities of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which are still under Kyiv’s control.
‘We don’t want a ceasefire, we want peace, after our conditions are met and all our goals are achieved,’ Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
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