Kyiv vows not to give up land for a ceasefire

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday that Ukraine could not agree to a Russian proposal to give up more of his country's territory in exchange for a ceasefire because Moscow would use what it gained as a springboard to start a future war.

- Dan Sabbagh

Ukraine's president said he did not believe that Donald Trump supported Russia's demands and expressed hope the US president would act as an honest mediator when he met Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

He said he saw no signs that Russia was preparing to implement a ceasefire as reports emerged that small sabotage groups had pierced Ukrainian defences in the eastern Donbas, advancing about 6 miles in three days. Zelenskyy also warned that Russia was planning new offensives on three parts of the frontline.

Speaking to journalists in the run-up to the Trump-Putin summit, and a day before a virtual meeting with US and European leaders, Zelenskyy said he believed that Putin wanted to dominate his country because he "does not want a sovereign Ukraine".

It was therefore dangerous, Zelenskyy said, for Ukraine to be forced by the US into accepting Russia's demand to take over the parts of Donbas it did not control after the Alaska summit. The region sought by Russia amounted to "about 90,000 square kilometres" of the country, he said.

Last week Russia indicated it was prepared to consider a cease-fire in the Ukraine war for the first time in exchange for Ukraine withdrawing from the parts of Donbas it still controlled. Although Trump then suggested Russia and Ukraine could engage in some "swapping of territories", Zelenskyy said he understood that Russia was "simply offering not to advance further, not to withdraw from anywhere" and that swaps were not on the table.

"We will not leave Donbas. We cannot do it," Zelenskyy said. "For Russians, Donbas is a springboard for a future new offensive."