Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday ruled out ceding territory to Russia, and warned that “decisions without Ukraine” would not bring peace.
“Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier,” he said on social media, as U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin prepare to hold a summit next week in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine.
“Any decisions against us, any decisions without Ukraine, are also decisions against peace. They will achieve nothing,” he said, adding that the war “cannot be ended without us, without Ukraine.”
Zelensky said Ukraine was “ready for real decisions that can bring peace,” but added that it should be a “dignified peace,” without providing further details.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes.
Three rounds of negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv this year have so far failed to bear fruit, and it remains unclear whether a summit can bring peace any closer.
Putin has resisted calls from the United States, Europe and Ukraine for a ceasefire.
He has also ruled out holding talks with Zelensky at this stage, a meeting the Ukrainian president says is necessary to make headway on a deal.
Announcing the summit with Putin on Friday, Trump said that “there'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Ukraine and Russia, without providing further details.
The Aug. 15 summit in Alaska would be the first between sitting U.S. and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met with Putin in Geneva in June 2021.
Trump and Putin last met in person in 2019 at a G20 summit in Japan during Trump’s first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since January.
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