Zelensky says Ukrainians won’t let him hand Donbas over to Russia
The Ukrainian people would reject a peace agreement at a referendum if it envisaged “handing over” Donbas to Russia. However, they would be more likely to support freezing the current front line.
President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed this view in an interview with Axios, Ukrinform reports.
At the time of Zelensky’s conversation with Axios, a third round of direct talks between the United States, Ukraine, and Russia was taking place in Geneva. The most contentious issue remains control over Donbas, about 10% of which is still under Ukrainian control.
Zelensky said he was prepared to discuss the withdrawal of Ukrainian Armed Forces from Donbas, but only if Russia simultaneously withdrew its troops to the same distance. He also rejected Russia’s claims to sovereignty over the region.
According to Zelensky, during the previous, second round of talks, Russian representatives promised to consult with Moscow and return with a detailed position on the territorial issue.
The President noted that Washington and Kyiv had agreed that any deal must be put to a referendum of the Ukrainian people. At the same time, he stressed that if an agreement required Ukraine to “simply leave Donbas,” sacrificing sovereignty and the citizenship of the people living there, society would not support it.
"Emotionally, people will never forgive this. Never. They will not forgive... me, they will not forgive [the U.S.]," Zelensky said, adding that Ukrainians "can't understand why" they would be asked to give up additional land.
"This is part of our country, all these citizens, the flag, the land," Zelensky said.
If an agreement merely freezes the current line of contact in Donbas – as planned in two other regions where fighting is ongoing – Zelensky believes the Ukrainian people would accept it.
"I think that if we will put in the document ... that we stay where we stay on the contact line, I think that people will support this [in a] referendum. That is my opinion," he said.
Zelensky reiterated that the best way to achieve a breakthrough on territorial issues would be a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said he had instructed his team to arrange a future leaders-level meeting in Geneva.
As previously reported by Ukrinform, after the second round of talks in Abu Dhabi, President Zelensky acknowledged that the territorial issue had not been resolved.
Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine