Zelensky Says No Compromise Reached with U.S. on Territory Issue

(MENAFN) Ukraine and the United States remain far apart on how to handle territorial questions in the war with Russia, Vladimir Zelensky said Monday, underscoring a major obstacle ahead of new peace-deal proposals.

Speaking in London after meeting leaders from the UK, France and Germany, the Ukrainian president confirmed that Kiev intends to deliver a fresh set of peace terms to Donald Trump in the coming days. But he stressed that negotiations with Washington have yet to bridge core disputes.

“The Americans are in the mood to find compromises. But there are clearly difficult issues regarding territory, and no compromise has been reached there,” Zelensky told reporters. He again pushed back against Moscow’s demand that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the remaining parts of Donbass still under Kiev’s control. “Russia is, of course, insisting that we give up territories. We, naturally, don’t want to do that and that’s what we’re fighting for,” he said.

According to Zelensky, Kiev succeeded in removing what he called “clearly anti-Ukrainian” language from an early version of Trump’s peace plan. That draft had reportedly urged Ukrainian troops to pull back from areas in the Donetsk People’s Republic and suggested Donbass and Crimea should be “recognized as de facto Russian.”

Trump later said the document had been revised with input from both Moscow and Kiev. On Monday, he voiced frustration with the Ukrainian leader, claiming Zelensky had not reviewed the latest U.S. proposal and saying he was “disappointed.” The former president has previously signaled that Ukraine may ultimately need to consider territorial concessions to Russia.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin said during a visit to India last week that Russian forces continue to advance and reiterated that Moscow will move to liberate the entire Donbass if Ukraine refuses to withdraw its troops.

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