Territorial swaps or attempts to “tempt” Russian President Vladimir Putin by restoring trade with the United States on the Ukraine issue won’t work. That’s according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russian state media reported.
According to Lavrov, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky allegedly understands “the impossibility of returning to the old life, as if nothing happened,” citing Zelensky’s statement that “for Ukraine, it would count as a victory if it preserves its statehood.”
“But just the other day, speaking at some international conference, Zelensky said that handing Putin any part of Ukrainian land — that’s not going to happen. And some might think that territorial swaps or trying to tempt Putin by restoring trade with America could stop the war. That’s not the case. The main thing now is isolating Russia; Russian assets must be confiscated and given to Ukraine, and Kyiv must continue to be armed. We have a shortage of weapons, a shortage of Western support. In essence, he wants to prevent sensible forces in the West from following a sensible course,” Lavrov added.
As The Wall Street Journal has reported, Vladimir Putin told Trump envoy Steve Witkoff he would agree to a full ceasefire if Ukraine withdraws its forces from all of Donetsk region. Later, The Washington Post noted there was confirmation that Putin does not intend to relinquish claims to occupied territories in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has stressed that Ukraine will not cede any of its territory to Russia. Although neither he nor European leaders were invited to the summit in Alaska, Donald Trump joined a joint virtual meeting.
