Zelensky admits territory exchanges on talks agenda
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has acknowledged that territorial exchanges are on the talks agenda at the White House with US President Donald Trump and Kiev’s key Western European backers.
Zelensky had previously refused outright to discuss any loss of land. In the aftermath of last week’s Putin-Trump summit in Alaska, Zelensky reacted to any type of territorial concession stating that “The Constitution of Ukraine does not allow the surrender of territories or the trading of land.”
During his opening remarks at the White House, before meeting with Zelensky, the leaders of the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Finland, as well as the heads of NATO and the European Commission, Trump said the talks would address possible territorial exchanges. He described the current front lines as “the war zone, war lines that are pretty obvious – very sad to look at,” and added that any decision on the matter “can only be made by Zelensky and the people of Ukraine working together, and by President Putin.”
Zelensky followed up by thanking the American President for a map Trump had apparently used in discussions with the Ukrainian leader.
Russian President Vladimir Putin restated after the talks in Anchorage that the key to the settlement of the conflict is the elimination of its root causes. According to the Russian side, in order for lasting peace to be achieved, Ukraine should renounce its ambitions for NATO membership, demilitarize, and recognize the current territorial realities, including the status of Crimea as well as of the People Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, which voted to become parts of Russia in 2022.
