Zelenskyy refuses to give up Ukrainian lands in Moscow during future peace talks

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated on Sunday that kyiv will make no territory in Moscow, repelling international speculations on potential land-to-mer negotiations.

“The Constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible to give up territories or commercial land,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference at the European Commission on Sunday.

European leaders will join the meeting of Trump-Zelenskyy, signaling solidarity with Ukraine

He added that Russia has tried several times and failed to grasp the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine for a period of 12 years. The Donbas, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, is an industrial center, with the extraction of coal and the production of central steel for the Ukrainian economy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Hague, the Netherlands, June 24, 2025. (Jakub Porzycki / Nurphoto / Getty Images)

“Since the territorial question is so important, it should only be discussed by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia to the trilalaterals (talks with) Ukraine, United States, Russia,” said Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian chief, who spoke alongside the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that so far the Kremlin had “given any sign that the trilateral will occur”.

Putin demands control of the Ukrainian key territory in exchange for peace: European diplomat

“Regarding territorial questions in Ukraine, our position is clear: international borders cannot be modified by force. These are decisions to be made by Ukraine and Ukraine alone, and these decisions cannot be made without Ukraine at the table,” said Von Der Leyen.

Friday, their remarks intervened after the meeting of Russian president Vladimir Putin with American president Donald Trump in Alaska, during which the Russian chief described the conditions of the end of the war, including requests for control over parts of eastern Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Tarmac after their arrival at the Elmendorf-Richardson joint base in Anchorage, Alaska, August 15, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP / Getty Images)

After meeting with the Russian chief, Asset reported that Zelenskyy should take the Putin agreement to end war because “Russia is very great power” and that Ukraine is not. However, the sseraire of the state Marco Rubio rejected the allegations according to which Trump put pressure on Zelenskyy to give up large expanses from his sovereign lands to Russia.

“The president said that in terms of territories, these are things Zelenskyy will have to decide,” Rubio told Maria Bartiromo on the “Sunday morning future” of Fox News.

“All that the president tries to do here is to reduce open problems,” said Rubio, adding that Trump focuses on the end of the Kremlin War in Ukraine.

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“You cannot have a peace agreement between two factions in war unless the two parties accept to abandon something. And the two parties agree that the other side gets something. Otherwise, if one side gets everything he wants, this is not a peace agreement. This is called surrender. And I do not think that it is a war that will end from so early. On the basis of surrender,” said Rubio.

Zelenskyy said he hoped that the next meeting with the European allies and Trump “will be productive”, the contrasting with the oval Oval Office exchange during his February visit.