Zelensky says he won’t ‘rush’ to end conflict

The Ukrainian leader has claimed that a freeze would give Russia an opportunity to “attack” at a later date

Kiev will not “rush” into any agreements with Russia, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has said. In an interview with French news outlet Le Parisien published on Wednesday, Zelensky warned that he is reluctant to make concessions in order to achieve peace, either territorial or regarding Ukraine’s ambitions of NATO and EU membership.

Zelensky had previously insisted that the only viable path to peace with Russia was his ten-point ‘peace formula’, which includes a complete withdrawal of Russian forces from former Ukrainian territories and the restoration of the country’s 1991 borders.

However, Zelensky has signaled in recent weeks that he could agree to a ceasefire without these territories if Kiev became a NATO member. Recent media reports have also suggested that US President-elect Donald Trump, who met Zelensky in Paris earlier this month, could persuade the Ukrainian leader to ‘freeze’ the conflict along the current line of contact and enforce negotiations between Kiev and Moscow. Trump previously pledged to end the conflict within 24 hours upon returning to the White House in January next year.

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“He really wants to move quickly [but] he is not yet in the White House and cannot have access to all the information. He also knows my firm desire to not rush to the detriment of Ukraine,” Zelensky stated.

“No matter how many presidents or prime ministers want to decree an end of the war, we are not going to simply give in and give up our independence,” he added. Zelensky claimed that freezing the conflict at its current stage would give Russia an opportunity to “attack” Ukraine at a later date.

“Putin is a boomerang: he comes back until he gets what he wants… If we do not stop Putin, he will continue to destroy us,” he stated. Zelensky said he would be ready to negotiate peace with Moscow only from “a position of strength,” and in order to get there, Ukraine must become part of the EU and NATO.

Zelensky rejected claims that he would agree to give up former Ukrainian territories that have joined Russia, namely the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporozhye, and Crimea.

“We cannot give up our territories. The Ukrainian Constitution forbids us to do so,” he stated, admitting, however, that Kiev does not currently have “the strength to regain” these territories.

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Moscow has maintained that it finds the option of freezing the conflict unacceptable. It has repeatedly said it is open to negotiations and would welcome a diplomatic settlement, but insisted that this is only possible if Kiev ceased military operations, withdrew its forces from Russian territory, including former Ukrainian regions, ensured the rights of Russian-speaking residents, and became a neutral, nuclear-free state.