Ukraine will not cede the Donbas region to Russia as part of a ceasefire deal, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ahead of this week’s talks between Russia and the United States.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with United States President Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday to discuss a potential end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Trump said last week that a peace deal would involve “swapping of territories” between Russia and Ukraine.
“We will not leave Donbas. We cannot do this. Donbas for the Russians is a springboard for a future new offensive,” said Zelenskyy.
“If today we leave Donbas, from our fortifications, from our reliefs, from the heights that we control, we will clearly open a bridgehead for preparing an offensive by the Russians. In a few years, Putin will have an open path to both the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro regions.”
Zelenskyy has not been invited to the Alaska talks, although he will speak virtually with Trump and European leaders ahead of the meeting.
Russia wants a peace deal to involve Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Donetsk region, part of the Donbas, according to Zelenskyy. The Trump administration has floated a proposal where current boundaries in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia would remain in place while Russia controlled the Donbas, Politico reported.
Trump has said “it’s not up to me to make a deal” at the talks in Alaska, however. The White House has called the discussions a “listening exercise”.
Russia currently occupies most of the Donbas, including around 70% of Donetsk and almost all of the region’s other area of Luhansk. It has occupied parts of the Donbas since 2014.
The Russian military has also aimed to gain more territory near the Donbas cities of Pokrovsk and Dobropillia ahead of the Alaska talks, with Ukraine saying it had dispatched reserves to halt their advance.
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