Putin to keep up to 1 million troops if Ukraine leaves Donbas, Zelenskyy says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said a withdrawal of Ukraine's forces from Donbas would not end the Russo-Ukrainian war and would instead enable Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to keep as many as one million troops, rebuild his forces and attack Ukraine again.

Source: Zelenskyy on X (Twitter), citing an interview he gave to Rai Italia, the international television service of Italy's public broadcaster RAI

Quote: "We must understand that Ukraine's withdrawal from Donbas will not guarantee that Putin will not continue the war. I would even say the opposite. What is certain is that he will continue. What is not certain is whether he will continue immediately. He needs time to prepare, to staff brigades, bring in additional divisions, and so on. That takes time. This is what I believe: he needs this time. But who can guarantee that afterwards he will not resume the occupation?"

Details: Zelenskyy said Russia's aggression has only intensified despite its earlier claims of wanting talks, leaving Ukraine with no reason to trust it.

He added that a Ukrainian withdrawal from territories that Russian troops have been unable to capture would be a gift to Putin.

Quote: "He [Putin] wants us to believe him and simply withdraw from our well-fortified territories. These fortifications limit the capabilities of Russian forces. Putin understands that if we withdraw, he will preserve between 300,000 and a million of his soldiers, depending on the intensity and duration of offensive actions in Donbas. Why, then, should we suddenly trust him and hand him such gifts?"

Background: Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that the Kremlin's condition for halting hostilities is Ukraine's complete withdrawal of its armed forces beyond Donbas.

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