Zelenskyy explains why giving up Donbas would not bring lasting peace
Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Getty Images)
If Ukraine withdraws from Donbas, the Kremlin chief will pause and then come back, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated, in an interview with DR Nyheder.
In Zelenskyy's view, talk of giving up Ukrainian territory in exchange for peace is abstract. He explained that the issue is not just about reality, but is more philosophical in nature.
The president recalled that the Kremlin chief had spoken about Donbas but then decided to occupy Kyiv. He also repeatedly claimed he was protecting Russian-speaking people, only to later torture hundreds and thousands of people in Bucha and other locations.
"So it was not about Russian-speaking people," Zelenskyy emphasized.
What Zelenskyy told the Americans
According to the president, the Americans asked him whether Donbas could be exchanged for security.
"Can you trade Donbas for security?" he was asked.
"Can you tell me what that means? What kind of security? NATO?" Zelenskyy immediately replied.
"Not NATO, but something similar to NATO," the Americans said.
"You want a clear answer about Donbas. That is your goal. And that is Putin's goal today," the president told them. He also asked what they would do if Ukraine received security guarantees but was not allowed to join NATO.
Zelenskyy recalled that Ukraine had given up its nuclear weapons. He said he was not a supporter of such weapons and believed the world would be better off without them. However, according to him, Russia took away Ukraine's nuclear weapons, then blocked its integration into Europe, prevented it from joining NATO and eventually occupied its territory.
"That is exactly why this is an abstract question," he stressed.
"No one believes Putin will stop if we leave Donbas. He will pause. Then he will come back in a year, two or five years. And who will be responsible?" Zelenskyy asked.
The president believes that the fastest way to end the war is to hold current positions and move to negotiations. According to him, Ukraine has decided to stop where it is, establish a ceasefire and move to the diplomatic track.
"This could take a month, two months or a year. Or even longer than we expect today. But we would end the hot phase of the war, and people would stop dying," he said.
Zelenskyy explained that holding positions would mean discussing the line of contact, slowing the pace of mobilization and allowing the economy to start functioning. Negotiations would then take place.
"Dialogue is better than weapons. That is why the best way to end this war is to replace weapons with words," the president said.
He acknowledged that this approach would raise many questions: how to stop, where to hold positions, what mandate a monitoring mission would have, what would be demilitarized, what would be needed to make it happen, what role Europeans would play and where the money for reconstruction would come from.
"Thousands of questions, but this is exactly the format that can stop the war — a ceasefire," Zelenskyy emphasized.
If the Kremlin chief does not want a ceasefire but instead proposes a lengthy plan involving various issues — difficult, sensitive and otherwise — and promises to stop the war only after it is signed, then, according to Zelenskyy, "it simply means that he does not want to stop the war."
Earlier, trilateral talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia in Abu Dhabi resumed for the first time since February.
The meetings are scheduled to last two days, while European partners will not participate directly. Kyiv is holding separate consultations with them.
RBC-Ukraine also reported that the US is discussing an idea to change the boundaries of Ukraine's regions.
This would allow Russia to claim full control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions without Ukraine having to surrender the cities it currently holds.
