Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Kyiv had no legal or moral right to give up land to Russia in any deal aimed at ending Moscow’s nearly four-year invasion.
“Do we envision ceding territories? We have no legal right to do so, under Ukrainian law, our constitution and international law. And we don’t have any moral right either,” Zelensky said in an online press conference.
Zelensky said that the U.S. was trying to find a compromise on the issue.
“Russia is insisting that we give up territories, but we don’t want to cede anything. We are fighting for that, as you well know.”
“There are difficult problems concerning the territories and so far there has been no compromise.”
Earlier, a senior official close to the talks told AFP that the question of Ukrainian territory was the “most problematic” in the negotiations.
The issue of security guarantees for Kyiv have also been among the main sticking points of the talks.
“The key is to know what our partners will be ready to do in the event of new aggression by Russia. At the moment, we have not received any answer to this question,” Zelensky said.
Following his London meetings, Zelensky traveled to Brussels to hold talks with heads of NATO and the European Commission.
“Then, during the night, around 1:00 a.m. or midnight I will go to Italy,” he said in his press conference.
Zelensky said that Ukrainian and European officials “are going to work on these 20 points” received from the U.S. side and that counter-proposals could be ready by Tuesday evening to be sent to Washington.
