'Russia's signals are far from reality': Zelenskyy denies Trump is pressuring him over Donbas

How he had to 'fight' with Witkoff

According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s position remains firm — nothing will be given to the aggressor. He explained this both to Trump and his special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

“We understand that Mr. Witkoff is simply conveying what Russia means. That doesn’t mean it’s his opinion. At least that’s what he says,” the president noted.

He also told Witkoff about the misleading impression, as the Russians claimed that people in Donbas wanted to join Russia in the pseudo-referendums. But there’s a nuance.

“First, there was the occupation, and only then did something uncontrolled and obviously illegal happen — what they called a referendum. And I say that these Russian signals are so far from reality that between the start of the occupation and the so-called referendum ten years passed,” the president explained.

Zelenskyy also said that he had to shut down Witkoff’s argument that Russia had included Ukrainian regions in its constitution.

“If tomorrow Putin adds something else after this or that end of the war, will we again have to withdraw from some territory? And if I add two Russian regions to the Constitution of Ukraine, will they withdraw from those territories? This is a non-working model,” he concluded.

Whether Trump urged to accept Putin’s ultimatums

As Zelenskyy explained, during the meeting, he wanted to understand exactly what the Russians want. But, for now, there is no clear position.

“So far, this hasn’t been voiced,” Zelenskyy replied to the question of whether he discussed with Trump the Russian conditions regarding territories, the army, language, etc.

Zelenskyy believes that if Ukraine were to agree to a bad territorial decision, then Trump and Putin would try to settle other issues between themselves.

As an example, the president said that during a conversation about a ceasefire at the White House, he was told Russian propaganda nonsense — that supposedly Ukraine was preparing for a new offensive, so it should not be given a pause.

“I said: ‘I just don’t quite understand how we would violate the security guarantees signed with you if we have a real end to the war?’” Zelenskyy noted.

He also recalled South and North Korea, noting that the former, with US security guarantees, became a "cool" country, while the latter turned into a hotbed of totalitarianism. Even more than 70 years after the end of hostilities, there is still no final peace agreement there.

Putin's demands

On October 19, the media reported that Trump allegedly demanded that Zelenskyy agree to Putin’s terms, otherwise he would “destroy Ukraine.”

Trump himself previously hinted that since Putin had already seized part of Ukraine’s territory, he would definitely keep something.

The Washington Post wrote that during a phone call with Trump, the Kremlin leader allegedly hinted at his readiness to stop the war and withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in exchange for full control over the Donetsk region.