Most Ukrainians want peace but not at cost of pulling out of Donbas, Zelenskyy says
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the vast majority of Ukrainians want a peace deal but will not agree to peace at the price of pulling Ukrainian forces out of Donbas.
Source: Interfax-Ukraine, a Ukrainian news agency, citing Zelenskyy in an interview with Fox News after talks with US President Donald Trump
Details: Zelenskyy said that Donald Trump mentioned opinion polls showing strong support for peace among Ukrainians.
Quote: "People want peace. Today President Trump said: 'I saw the polls that 85%, maybe 87%, he said, want peace, so they agree. I said: yes, you know, this is our life, 87% support peace. At the same time, 85% [are] against withdrawing troops from the east, from Donbas. It means that everyone wants peace, but just peace."
Background:
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his US counterpart Trump met in the United States on 28 December. After that, the presidents held a video conference with European leaders.
- At a press conference following their meeting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump said that they were unable to resolve the issue of Donbas during their talks.
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said that the "20-point plan [the peace plan – ed.] – 90% agreed, the US-Ukraine security guarantees – 100% agreed, US-Europe-Ukraine security guarantees – almost agreed, military dimension [of these guarantees – ed.] – 100% agreed".
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on 29 December that the Kremlin's condition for halting hostilities is Ukraine's complete withdrawal of its armed forces beyond Donbas.
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