At a meeting with journalists, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated that there will be no retreat from Donbas, calling this demand 'unacceptable.' He reported that the arguments about the referendum have 'nothing to do with reality, like the inclusion of Donbas in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. If tomorrow Putin adds something else, will we have to leave some territory again? And if I include, for example, two regions of the Russian Federation in the Constitution of Ukraine, will they leave these territories? This is a non-working model,' emphasized the Ukrainian president, adding that the issue of territories, particularly Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, remains uncertain.
Zelensky said that during the latest negotiations, there was no talk about conditions regarding the army, language, or 'regime change,' only about the territorial issue. However, if Ukraine agrees to an unacceptable territorial solution, there is a threat that all further issues will be resolved without its participation.
At the same time, according to Zelensky, Ukraine, together with its allies, has approached a possible end to the war with Russia, primarily thanks to the efforts of US President Donald Trump. 'We have approached a possible end to the war. I am telling you for sure, this does not mean that it will definitely end, but Trump has achieved a lot in the Middle East, and on this wave, he wants to end Russia's war against Ukraine,' said Zelensky.
However, he noted that the scale of the war in Ukraine exceeds the scale of other armed conflicts. 'I do not want to belittle or exaggerate any country, but we cannot compare what is in the Middle East and what is happening here. This is a completely different scale of war. This is a different story,' UNIAN quotes Zelensky.
In addition, the Ukrainian president reported on the preparation of a contract for the supply of 25 Patriot systems. It is difficult to receive all systems at once due to the queue of countries that have already signed contracts with the manufacturer, but Ukraine is trying to swap places with some customers.
'The White House can change the queue if there is political will. We understand which European countries can give us this priority in the queue,' explained Zelensky.
Photo: TG Volodymyr Zelensky