Ukraine won’t give up land that Russia hasn’t captured, Zelensky says

Kyiv will not give up land that Moscow troops aren’t occupying as part of any peace deal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands.

Speaking ahead of his meeting with President Trump on Monday, Zelensky told reporters in Brussels that while Kyiv would be open to “land swaps” in exchange for peace, Putin’s demands to cede the entirety of the Donetsk region — including parts under Ukrainian control — is off the table.

“We need real negotiations, which means they can start where the front line is now,” Zelensky said. “The contact line is the best line for talking.

“Russia is still unsuccessful in the Donetsk region,” he added. “Putin has been unable to take it for 12 years, and the Constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible to give up territory or trade land.”

During his summit with Trump on Friday, Putin demanded that Ukraine withdraw all its forces from Donetsk and the neighboring Luhanks region, both of which lie along the eastern border, as one of the main conditions for ending the war.

While Russia currently controls a large swath of land across both regions, Ukraine has been able to keep Moscow’s forces from claiming the entire regions for more than three years.

Kyiv still holds the key cities of  Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, with hundreds of Moscow’s troops killed or injured every week in the quagmire.

Zelensky said Kyiv would not falter on these conditions, with European leaders backing the Ukrainian president and warning Trump that the country’s border cannot be allowed to be altered through force.

“Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral Ukraine-United States-Russia,” Zelensky added.

“So far, Russia gives no sign that trilateral will happen, and if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow,” he added.

As he prepares for this meeting with Trump on Monday, Zelensky said he will seek the full details of the “security guarantees” that will be available for Ukraine if a peace deal is reached.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday that Putin agreed to allow the US and Europe to provide Ukraine with assurances that it will never again be invaded by Russia, similar to NATO’s “Article 5” agreement that allows member nations to defend each other if one is ever attacked.

Putin has publicly denounced any deal that would give Ukraine NATO membership, with Trump also dismissing such proposals in the past.

The Russian strongman has also remained silent on what concessions Moscow is willing to make in the peace talks, which leaves Zelensky with more questions than answers following Friday’s summit in Alaska.

“We really want to get an answer to these questions in order to understand what ‘security guarantees’ are,” Zelensky said.