August M
Ukraine’s president has accused Donald Trump of applying “unjustified” pressure on Kyiv to make territorial concessions in negotiations with Russia.
Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Ukrainians would not accept further losses in the Donbas region, saying such a move would carry lasting political consequences, reports Ziarre.com.
Pressure claims
In an interview with Axios, Zelensky said he hoped Trump’s recent remarks were part of a negotiating tactic rather than a settled position.
“I hope it’s just a tactic of his and not a decision,” Zelensky said, as Ukrainian, Russian and US representatives held trilateral discussions in Geneva.
Trump suggested in recent days that Kyiv should act swiftly to advance talks. ” Ukraine would do well to sit down at the negotiating table quickly. That’s all I’m saying,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday.
Zelensky argued that pushing Ukraine to concede territory would not create sustainable peace and warned against any outcome that could be seen as a victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Donbas dilemma
The Ukrainian leader said accepting Moscow’s demand to control the entirety of Donbas would be unacceptable to voters. Russia currently holds roughly 88 percent of the region.
“Emotionally, people will never forgive this. Never. They will not forgive me, they will not forgive the United States ,” Zelensky said, adding that Ukrainians “cannot understand why” they would be asked to give up additional territory.
He stressed that any final agreement would have to be approved in a national referendum.
According to Axios, Washington has proposed that Ukrainian forces withdraw from areas of Donbas they still control, potentially turning the region into a demilitarized “free economic zone,” without immediately resolving the sovereignty question.
Talks and tensions
Zelensky reiterated his call for freezing the conflict along current front lines. “I think if we include in the document that we stay where we are on the contact line, I think people will support this in a referendum,” he said.
He also said he would prefer a direct meeting with Putin to resolve territorial questions and has instructed aides to explore arranging a leaders’ summit in Geneva.
While thanking Trump for his peace efforts and describing his contacts with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as respectful, Zelensky said he was “not the kind of person” who would easily yield to pressure.
Negotiations remain complex. Russia’s delegation is now led by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, a shift Zelensky fears could slow progress. He warned against turning talks into theoretical debates about the war’s “historical roots.”
“We don’t have time for all this nonsense. So, we need to make a decision and end the war,” Zelensky pleaded.
Sources: Ziare.com, Axios
