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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reconfirmed that Ukraine is not willing to cede land to Russia after almost four years of war. In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, starting the deadliest European war since World War II. Zelensky's comments come as US President Donald Trump is pressuring Ukraine to concede territory to the invading Russia. On Tuesday, Donald Trump told the press that Russia has ‘the upper hand' and that Ukraine needs to ‘play ball' with the Kremlin, something that Ukraine is not willing to do.
Do we consider ceding any territories? According to the law we don't have such right. According to Ukraine's law, our constitution, international law, and to be frank, we don't have a moral right either.
-Volodymyr Zelensky
According to Zelensky, “Russia insists on us to give up territories,” but Ukraine, “[does not] want to give up anything,” Zelensky told reporters via WhatsApp after meetings with European leaders on Monday in hopes of rallying international support for Ukraine. At the meeting were UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The group met at Prime Minister Starmer's home at 1 Downing Street in London. After the meeting, Zelensky, Starmer, and the other leaders called Kyiv's European allies, urging them to keep up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war,
-Kier Starmer
According to Macron, the session allowed the leaders “to continue joint work on the U.S. plan in order to complement it with European contributions, in close coordination with Ukraine.” Zelenskyy also met with Pope Leo XIV at Castle Gandolfo, a papal residence outside of Rome. Also at the meeting was Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. According to the Vatican, the Pope “reiterated the need for the continuation of dialogue and expressed his urgent desire that the current diplomatic initiatives bring about a just and lasting peace.” While the Pope has tried to remain neutral in the conflict, the Vatican has called for a ceasefire and urged Moscow – the attacking force – to make gestures to promote peace.
US pressure to concede land
Donald Trump, a vocal ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been pressuring Ukraine and Zelenskyy to concede to certain Russian demands, including some Ukrainian territory. The US government is pressuring Ukraine to surrender control over the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine – an area that is mostly occupied by Russian forces. Ukraine and its European allies have firmly resisted the idea of handing over land. According to Trump, conceding land is the moral thing for Ukraine to do, as “a lot of people are dying,” and that apparently multiple Ukrainian “lieutenants” and Zelenskyy's “top people” agree with the U.S. administration.
“I give the people of Ukraine and the military of Ukraine tremendous credit for the, you know, bravery and for the fighting and all of that. But you know, at some point, size will win, generally.”
Trump also reiterated his wish for Ukraine to hold a presidential election, something it has not done since 2019 due to the martial law imposed by the government after Russia's initial invasion in 2022. Zelesnkyy, who was elected in 2019, has now exceeded his five-year term in office, but still has an approval rating of almost 70% among Ukrainian citizens. That being said, 84% of Ukrainian voters believe that there is widespread corruption in the Ukrainian government, and nearly 50% of voters disapprove of the country's leadership (outside of Zelenskyy).
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, at least 2 million people have been killed – mostly military personnel – and another million displaced from both sides, making it the most deadly conflict of the 21st century.
