Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has underlined he will make no territorial concessions to Russia ahead of a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on the future of the war in Ukraine next week.
Trump earlier signaled Ukraine may have to cede territory to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Zelensky said in a Telegram post on Saturday that “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier”, and reiterated that Ukraine must be involved in any solution for peace.
His comments came ahead of a meeting of National Security Advisors from Europe, Ukraine and the US, hosted by UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and US Vice President JD Vance.
Earlier on Saturday, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer held a call with Zelensky in which he said they agreed the meeting would be a “vital forum to discuss progress towards securing a just and lasting peace”.
Trump and Putin are set to meet in Alaska on 15 August to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine.
Speaking on a potential deal to end the war, Trump said on Friday that there “will be some swapping of territories, to the betterment of both”.
“You’re looking at territory that’s been fought over for three and a half years, a lot of Russians have died. A lot of Ukrainians have died,” the US president said.
Zelensky on Saturday said that Ukraine is ready for “real solutions that can bring peace” but underlined that Ukraine needed to be involved.
“Any solutions that are against us, any solutions that are without Ukraine, are simultaneously solutions against peace,” he said.
“We are ready, together with President Trump, together with all partners, to work for a real, and most importantly, lasting peace – a peace that will not collapse because of Moscow’s wishes.”
