Zelenskiy says Ukraine won’t give up land to Russia for peace

Ukraine won’t give up land to bring an end to war but is ready to work with US President Donald Trump for real and lasting peace, said President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.“Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier,” Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram and X. The comments were Zelenskiy’s first response to Friday’s reports that discussions between Washington and Moscow center around a deal that would lock in Russia’s occupation of territory seized during its military invasion, according to people familiar.That includes a demand by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine cede Crimea, which Kremlin forces illegally annexed in 2014, as well as its entire eastern Donbas area. It would require Zelenskiy to order a withdrawal of troops from parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions still held by Kyiv.

Ukraine is ready for real decisions that can bring peace. Any decisions that are against us, any decisions that are without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not achieve anything. These are stillborn decisions. They are unworkable decisions. And we… pic.twitter.com/JFg0rIeLzP
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 9, 2025
Trump announced on Friday that he’ll meet Putin in Alaska on August 15, with the apparent exclusion of Zelenskiy from talks aimed at ending the war, now well into its fourth year.Any decisions taken without Ukraine “are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not achieve anything,” Zelenskiy said.“The answer to the Ukrainian territorial question is already in the Constitution of Ukraine. No one will and will not be able to deviate from this.”Ukraine is ready to work with Trump and “all our partners” for a “peace that will not fall apart because of Moscow’s desire,” Zelenskiy said.Also Read: Donald Trump says he will meet Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska

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