12:18 17.02.2023

Zelenskyy rules out territory deal with Putin - BBC

2 min read
Zelenskyy rules out territory deal with Putin - BBC

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ruled out the possibility of renouncing any territories of his country as part of a possible peace agreement with Russia.

In a BBC interview to mark a year since Russia's full-scale invasion, he warned conceding land would mean Russia could "keep coming back", while Western weapons would bring peace closer.

Zelenskyy also said that the predicted spring offensive has already begun. "Russian attacks are already happening from several directions," he said. However, he believes that Ukrainian forces can continue to resist Russia's offensive until they can launch a counteroffensive, although he repeated his calls for more military assistance from the West.

"Of course, modern weapons speed up peace. Weapons are the only language Russia understands," Zelenskyy told the BBC.

President Zelenskyy also addressed a threat by Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko to wage war alongside Russian troops from his territory if a single Ukrainian soldier crossed the border. "I hope [Belarus] won't join [the war]," he said. "If it does, we will fight and we will survive."

According to him, allowing Russia to use Belarus as a staging post for an attack again would be a "huge mistake."

When asked if he was surprised by Russia's tactics in the war, Zelenskyy described them as "valueless." "The way they destroyed everything. If their soldiers received [and carried out] those orders, that means they share those same values."

" …We want security guarantees. Any territorial compromises would make us weaker as a state," he said.

"It's not about compromise itself," he said. "Why would we be afraid of that? We have millions of compromises in life every day. The question is with whom? With Putin? No. Because there's no trust. Dialogue with him? No. Because there's no trust," he said.

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