Ukraine will not concede any part of its territory as compensation to Russia to end its war that has now stretched into its third year since 2022, said President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. His comments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin told the US that he would halt the war in exchange for Eastern Ukraine and other major territorial concessions. Russia and the US have confirmed the timing and place of the upcoming meeting between Trump and Putin to settle the war in Ukraine.
The two leaders are likely to meet in the far-north US state of Alaska, near Russia, on August 15, to try to resolve the three-year conflict. Trump announced the meeting on Friday, saying, “There will be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both Ukraine and Russia,” though he did not mention the exact details.
Zelenskyy responded via a social media post, saying, “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”
He warned that a “Decision against Ukraine, without the inclusion of Ukraine, is a decision against the peace. They achieve nothing.
Zelenskyy said, “The war cannot be ended without us, without Ukraine.”
Even though Russia and Ukraine have already engaged in direct peace talks in Istanbul, three rounds of peace talks have failed to yield any results. It remains unclear whether the upcoming Putin-Trump talks could bring any solution to the ongoing crisis.
According to the International Human Rights Watch and OSINT reports, tens of thousands of people have died in the Ukraine-Russia war. As per regional experts and institutes which study the war, they believe that a vast amount of deaths have occurred on the Ukrainian side, which is also reflective of their depleting military resources.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv was "ready for real decisions that can bring peace" but said it should be a "dignified peace".
The Russian president, a former KGB officer in power in Russia for over 25 years, has said no to direct talks with Zelenskyy over his legitimacy in signing the documents.
Moscow has also invited Trump to pay a reciprocal visit to Russia later. Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump's first term. Though two leaders have constantly spoken on the phone since the re-election of Trump.
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