Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday addressed the issue of possible territorial concessions by Ukraine or Russia in a peace deal to end the more than three-year-old conflict.
Zelenskyy spoke outside the White House following his meeting with President Donald Trump.
“We understand Russian proposition,” Zelenskyy said in response to a question from Newsmax correspondent Nana Sajaia. “This swaps of territories and etc., I’m not sure that Russia changed their position because we didn’t have any kind of meetings to understand positions of both sides.
“Nobody can finish this without Ukraine. This is a sensitive issue as I’ve said about territories. It will be a very difficult moment in these negotiations, but I’m sure we’ll have negotiations.”
Zelenskyy’s comments reflect his longstanding position that Ukraine will not agree to cede land to Russia as part of a peace settlement. He has repeatedly said Ukraine’s borders are “not negotiable” and that decisions about the country’s territory must be made by the Ukrainian people under its constitution.
Russia, for its part, has said any peace deal must recognize its control of Crimea and the four regions it claimed to annex in 2022 — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — as permanent.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated this year that there could be “no thought of” territorial concessions.
The issue of territory remains one of the main barriers to a ceasefire. Trump said upon arriving in Florida on Friday night — where he is spending the weekend — that the war should end where the battle lines are now.
“In my opinion, they should stop the war immediately,” Trump told reporters. “You go by the battle line wherever it is, otherwise, it’s too complicated. You’ll never be able to figure it out.
“You stop at the battle line and both sides should go home, go to their families, stop the killing, and that should be it. Stop right now at the battle line. I told that to President Zelenskyy. I told it to President [Vladimir] Putin.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday reaffirmed the military alliance’s “enduring support for Ukraine so that it can defend itself against Russia today, be in a strong position for any peace negotiations and be able to deter any Russian aggression in the future.”
The comments highlight the fragile diplomatic terrain ahead as Ukraine, Russia and U.S. mediators prepare for potential talks later this year — with territorial control remaining the central issue no side appears willing to compromise.
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