Zelenskyy denies possibility of withdrawing troops from part of country's territory, agreeing to Russia's ultimatums
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy assures that as a result of negotiations with Russia there will be no concessions in terms of territories.
"No one will withdraw our troops from our territories. This is my constitutional duty, this is the duty of our military to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Yes, now there are temporarily occupied territories due to aggression of such a large country, this is understandable. But there will be no ultimatums and no one will surrender their land, their territories, their people, and their homes," Zelenskyy said during a briefing on Monday evening after a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump and Trump's conversation with Vladimir Putin.
At the same time, he noted that if the Russian Federation sets conditions for Ukraine to withdraw Ukrainian troops from its land, "it means they do not want a ceasefire and do not want the war to end."
"They clearly understand that Ukraine will not do this. If you ask a question in advance and already know the answer will be negative, then you definitely do not want the result," Zelenskyy said.
The head of state noted that Trump believes that the Russian Federation is "ready for negotiations and ready for compromises."
Answering a question about the memorandum that, according to Putin's statement, Ukraine and the Russian Federation may begin to jointly develop, the Ukrainian president referred to Trump and said that, as he understands, "they discussed it with Putin, with the Russian side, that in a bilateral format there may be an appropriate memorandum, which may then lead to a map leading to the end of the war, that is, to an agreement."
"A memorandum that will be supported by all or both countries, which also includes a ceasefire, let's say. So far, this is unknown to me. In any case, if the Russian side proposes some memorandum, I think it will not be a secret, because this information always somehow appears in the public space. I think that from our side, after receiving the appropriate signals, we will be able to formulate our vision," Zelenskyy said.
When asked about the principles for the Ukrainian side to end the war, he said that these are a ceasefire, an exchange of prisoners of war, and the return of deported children. At the same time, Zelenskyy noted that he "does not know the principles that the Russian side wants to establish," and added that "they do not even know what exactly they want."
