Zelensky rejects Vance's claim of Russian 'concessions'

Statements from Moscow that Russians are ready not to capture more of Ukraine are not concessions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a meeting with German Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

“As for Russia’s concessions, I’m not aware of any. I don’t consider the things voiced by Russia - that they are ready not to capture more of Ukraine - to be concessions. I don’t consider it a concession that they propose we withdraw from territories that Russia does not control,” the head of state said.

Zelensky stressed that even discussing such ideas falls outside international law. He added that the timing of a leaders’ meeting depends solely on the Russian side, as well as on the United States.

“Because it was the United States that proposed, I remind you, a ceasefire on March 7. We supported that,” the president said.

A day earlier, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance claimed that Russians had shown readiness to be flexible on some of their key demands. Among those purported “concessions,” he cited Moscow’s recognition that installing a puppet regime in Kyiv was impossible and the need to preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity.