Russia will not leave occupied territories of Ukraine, but they will not be recognized as Russian – Kellogg
The most difficult issue in the settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian war will be the territorial one, and it is necessary to distinguish between actual and legal control over the territories: the Russian Federation will not leave the occupied territories of Ukraine, but no one will recognize them as Russian, says the US President's special envoy to Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg.
Kellogg said on Fox News on Wednesday that they had to get to the difficult level of discussions and that, in their opinion, the most difficult ones were the territorial issues. He pointed out that when looking at the four regions—Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson—the Russians completely controlled Luhansk, but not the others. He added that the question was what the territorial gains would look like.
The US President's special envoy added that they then would go back to what they call de facto or de jure. He explained that de facto means physically occupying the territory, and that the Russian occupiers are not going anywhere from it, but de jure does not mean completely annexing it or giving it to Russia as part of its territory. He emphasized that these are the discussions that need to take place.