The Ukrainian public would not accept Kyiv simply handing over the country’s Donbas region to Russia in a peace deal, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday — advising US envoys against continually pushing a version of peace the war’s victims would see as an “unsuccessful story.”
“Emotionally, people will never forgive this. Never. They will not forgive … me, they will not forgive [the US],” Zelensky told Axios, speaking as US, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met in Geneva. “This is part of our country, all these citizens, the flag, the land.”
The president said it was “not fair” that President Trump has called on Ukraine — and not Russia — to make concessions to reach a peace deal.
Any change to the country’s recognition of its land would require a referendum approved by the Ukrainian people, according to Kyiv’s constitution.
Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been working to rapidly seal a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine that would see Kyiv give up even the roughly 15% to 20% of the Donbas that it still controls, turning it into a “free economic zone.”
As part of the US-proposed peace deal, Ukraine would be forced to pull its troops from the region. However, Kyiv has previously said it would refuse to do so if the Kremlin did not also cull its forces at the same distance.
Moscow continues to demand full ownership of the area, and has not abandoned its desire to push further into Ukraine if given the chance.
The Ukrainian public may vote for a peace deal that would freeze the frontlines where they are currently if it included rock-solid security guarantees from the US and Europe that would prevent Moscow from re-invading Ukraine, Zelensky said, but the inclusion of land Moscow has not even taken is a no-go.
“I think that if we will put in the document … that we stay where we stay on the contact line, I think that people will support this [in a] referendum. That is my opinion,” he said.
But holding a nationwide election during wartime presents major logistical and security challenges in the absence of a cease-fire, which the Kremlin has refused to provide.
While Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has offered to stop pummeling Ukraine for a single day for a presidential election, Zelensky told Axios it would take at least 60 to set up the infrastructure to hold such an event.
Zelensky said the only real shot at breaking the deadlock over territory is a face-to-face sit-down with Putin, according to Axios — adding he’s already directed his team to push for a potential leaders’ summit in Geneva.
The Ukraine president said the two leaders agreed on some things during talks in Abu Dhabi — that there should be a way to monitor a cease-fire with drones, helmed by the US.
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