Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday reaffirmed that Kyiv will not surrender any of its territory to Moscow, rejecting growing international speculation about possible land-for-peace negotiations.
“The constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible to give up territory or trade land,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference with the European Commission.
He emphasized that Russia has spent more than a decade attempting — and failing — to seize the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. The area, which includes Donetsk and Luhansk, is a major industrial hub central to Ukraine’s coal mining and steel industries.
“Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral [talks with] Ukraine, United States, Russia,” Zelenskyy said.
Standing alongside EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the Ukrainian leader noted that Moscow has shown “no sign that the trilateral will happen.”
Von der Leyen underscored Europe’s position: “With regards to any territorial questions in Ukraine, our position is clear: international borders cannot be changed by force. These are decisions to be made by Ukraine and Ukraine alone, and these decisions cannot be taken without Ukraine at the table.”
Their comments followed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday, where Putin laid out conditions for ending the war, including demands for control over eastern Ukrainian territory.
Afterward, Trump suggested that Zelenskyy should consider Putin’s offer to stop the conflict, pointing to Russia’s strength as “a very big power” compared to Ukraine. But Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the notion that Trump would pressure Kyiv to surrender land.
“The president has said that in terms of territories, these are things that Zelenskyy is going to have to decide on,” Rubio told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures.
“All the president is trying to do here is narrow down the open issues,” he added, stressing that Trump’s focus is on ending the Kremlin’s war.
“You can’t have a peace deal between two warring factions unless both sides agree to give up something. Otherwise, if one side gets everything they want, that’s not a peace deal — it’s surrender. And I don’t think this is a war that’s going to end anytime soon on the basis of surrender,” Rubio said.
Zelenskyy expressed hope that the upcoming meeting with European allies and President Trump “will be productive,” contrasting it with the tense Oval Office exchange during his February visit.
