Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that giving up any Ukrainian territory would allow Russian leader Vladimir Putin to use it as a base for future attacks on Europe—if the continent fails to remain strong.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who shifted in August from calling for a ceasefire to pushing for a final peace agreement after meeting Putin, said Zelensky could end the war “almost immediately, if he wanted.”
However, Trump added that Crimea would not be returned to Ukraine, suggesting Kyiv might need to make territorial concessions in exchange for peace. Zelensky has consistently rejected such ideas.
“Some media claim that if Ukrainian soldiers withdraw from eastern regions of our country, peace would return there. But that is not true,” Zelensky told the French magazine Le Point.
“Putin invaded Crimea to use it as a base to encircle the south. In 2014, he occupied part of the east to prepare for full-scale control of those regions,” he added.
He further noted that a withdrawal from Donbas would leave Kharkiv, a city of 1.5 million residents, exposed and could allow Russia to seize the industrial hub of Dnipro.
“This would open new opportunities for them,” Zelensky emphasized.
