Zelenskyy on territories in "peace deal": "Staying where we are" would be fair

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described a "fair version" of a peace deal as one that would stop the war along the current line of contact, with Ukrainian territories subsequently being liberated through diplomacy.

Source: Zelenskyy during an online briefing with journalists on Saturday 20 December

Quote from Zelenskyy: "As of today, a fair version is possible: we stay where we are – this is the contact line in any region of our state. For now, yes, until diplomacy – this is the moment of a ceasefire, or simply the moment of stopping the fighting, and then the moment of ending the war."

Details: Zelenskyy said this would mean that Russian forces would "stay" in the temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which Ukraine would later reclaim through diplomacy.

"And we will hold the part of Donbas that is under Ukrainian control and continue to live there. These are fundamental points whatever the format, because we have not yet resolved this issue. For us, it is important that the Ukrainian authorities retain control over the part of Donbas that we control today," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine has explained to its US partners that under the Constitution it cannot relinquish its territories.

"The Americans always want to find some kind of compromise. That's why they proposed a free economic zone," the president added.

Background:

• US President Donald Trump recently stated that despite the complexity of the situation, a peace deal "would work" and that "a lot of people want to see it work".
• Zelenskyy has stressed that the Ukrainian authorities cannot allow themselves to think that the current peace process might fail.
• Davyd Arakhamia, leader of the Servant of the People party, the ruling parliamentary faction, said earlier that there is zero possibility of a "good peace deal" with Russia; the choice is between a very bad deal or no deal at all with the continuation of the war.

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