Kiev has once again refused to withdraw its troops from the Donbass
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has said that no compromise was reached with US negotiators over Ukraine’s borders.
Zelensky arrived in London on Monday where he met with the leaders of the UK, France, and Germany. He said during the trip that Kiev would soon submit its proposals for a peace deal with Russia to US President Donald Trump.
“The Americans are in the mood to find compromises. But there are clearly difficult issues regarding territory and no compromise has been reached there,” Zelensky told journalists. He once again rejected one of Russia’s key ceasefire terms that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the Donbass. “Russia is, of course, insisting that we give up territories. We, naturally, don’t want to do that and that’s what we’re fighting for,” he said.
Zelensky claimed that Kiev had managed to remove “clearly anti-Ukrainian” provisions from Trump’s peace plan, which in an earlier draft reportedly called for Ukrainian troops to leave part of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic they currently control. That draft also reportedly stated that the Donbass and Crimea should be “recognized as de facto Russian.”
Trump has since said that the document was modified with additional input from Russia and Ukraine. The president said on Monday that he was “a little disappointed” with Zelensky and claimed that he did not read the most recent US proposal. Trump previously hinted that Ukraine may have to make territorial concessions to Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his trip to India last week that Russian forces were making steady progress and that Moscow would liberate the whole of the Donbass by force if Ukraine refuses to evacuate its soldiers.
