Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not agree to give up land to Russia in exchange for peace, his chief of staff Andriy Yermak told US magazine The Atlantic in an interview published on Thursday. “As long as Zelenskyy is president, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory,” Yermak said.
The comments came after Vladimir Putin said Russia will fight on unless Kyiv withdraws from territory Moscow claims. Referring to a draft peace plan proposed by the US, Putin said it could serve as a basis for negotiations but insisted Ukraine must surrender territory. “In general, we agree that this can be the basis for future agreements,” Putin said, but added that in other points “we clearly need to sit down and talk.” The Russian president again described Zelenskyy as “illegitimate,” suggesting little movement on core sticking points.
Ukrainian and US delegations will meet this week to work on points from Geneva talks, Zelenskyy said. Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he would discuss peace efforts in Ukraine at a meeting in Moscow with Putin, focusing on Hungary's continued oil and gas supplies from Russia.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever warned that the EU's plan to use frozen Russian state assets to fund Ukraine could endanger a potential peace deal, according to a letter seen by the Financial Times. “Hastily moving forward on the proposed reparations loan scheme would have, as a collateral damage, that we as EU are effectively preventing reaching an eventual peace deal,” De Wever wrote.
Ukraine's Nobel peace prize winner Oleksandra Matviichuk warned that any peace deal including an amnesty for war crimes could encourage other authoritarian leaders. She said the leaked US-Russia plan did not account for “the human dimension” and supported Zelenskyy's efforts to rewrite it. “We need a peace, but not a pause that provides Russia a chance to retreat and regroup,” she said.
Moldova's parliament voted to close a Russian cultural centre in Chisinau, citing security concerns, a day after Russia's ambassador was summoned over drone intrusions. The government said the centre could serve as an instrument to promote narratives threatening Moldova's security.
