Zelenskyy says Ukrainian public will reject any peace deal that hands Donbas to Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukrainians will not accept a peace deal that involves Ukraine unilaterally withdrawing from Donbas and handing it over to Russia.

Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with US digital news outlet Axios

Details: Zelenskyy said the best way to make a breakthrough on territory is to hold a face-to-face meeting with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. He said he has instructed his team to arrange a future leader-level meeting in Geneva.

Zelenskyy said he is prepared to discuss troop withdrawals, but has called on Moscow to pull its forces back by an equivalent distance and rejected Russia's claims of sovereignty over the area.

He added that Washington and Kyiv have agreed that any deal must be voted on by the Ukrainian people in a referendum.

But if the deal would require Ukraine to simply withdraw from Donbas, sacrificing its sovereignty and the citizenship of the people who live there, he believes it would be rejected.

Zelenskyy said that emotionally the people would not forgive the authorities or international partners for abandoning Ukrainian citizens and land.

Quote: "This is part of our country, all these citizens, the flag, the land."

More details: Zelenskyy said he believes that Ukrainians would accept a deal that freezes the current front line in Donbas.

Russia, however, is insisting it will take all of Donbas either through talks or by force. Resolving this issue in a way that is acceptable to both sides is the main priority for US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner at this week's peace talks.

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