Ukraine will never cede occupied territories to Russia – Zelenskyy
Kyiv • UNN
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine will never cede occupied territories to Russia. He added that they might be able to be returned through diplomatic means.
Ukraine will never cede Ukrainian occupied territories to Russia. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an interview with Le Figaro, and added that he does not rule out that the territories will be returned not immediately and possibly through diplomatic means, UNN reports.
One thing is certain: we will never cede our occupied territories to Russia. These lands belong to Ukrainians. When will we return them? Probably not immediately. Perhaps this will have to be done through diplomatic means. Diplomacy causes fewer casualties, it causes less losses than weapons
Zelenskyy commented on the definition of victory in the war for Ukraine.
What is our definition of victory? We have created and strengthened our independence. But this is not enough. Because the war is not over. When it ends and we have sufficiently reliable security guarantees to prevent this from happening again, we will be able to congratulate ourselves that we have already managed to protect our identity, our independence and our sovereignty. We did this thanks to our people, our close allies and partners, and, of course, our military. But you know, it is difficult to talk about victory in a war, because every Ukrainian family has lost someone or something
He stressed that only history books can tell about a real victory.
For families, those who have lost a son, brother, husband, the only real victory would be to bring them home. But this is impossible. Today, victory for us is to preserve our nation, our independence. It is about the freedom not to belong to Russia or its way of seeing the world. For us, freedom is not just a word. We want to be able to decide how to live, with whom, whom to love. These are simple words, but they concern our right to live as we want. Every morning we want to know that Ukrainians are free and that the morning belongs to them
Addition
Special Envoy of US President Steve Witkoff stated that the status of the occupied Ukrainian territories is a central issue in Russia's war against Ukraine.
Ukraine decides on the terms of peace negotiations, European Commission spokeswoman Anita Gipper said at a briefing on Monday, answering a question about the position against the background of statements by US President Steve Witkoff's special envoy that the status of the occupied Ukrainian territories is a central issue in the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine, and his reference to the illegal referendum.
