Ukraine unwilling to cede land to Russia; Zelenskyy rallies European support
text_fields
Rome: As the main bone of contention between belligerent Russia and Ukraine, ceding Ukrainian territory captured by Russia, continued to elude a resolution, Ukraine remaining unwilling to compromise on the demand that Russia leave the captured territory.
In an attempt to meet and win the support of European nations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Rome on Tuesday while resisting the US pressure for a painful compromise with Russia.
On Monday, Zelenskyy held talks in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to strengthen Ukraine's hand amid mounting impatience from US President Donald Trump.
The US President has been over the past few weeks floating the idea of Ukraine giving up its claim on the territory in return for Russian guarantees of non-aggression.
The Ukrainian president arrived at Castel Gandolfo, a papal residence outside Rome, for a meeting with Pope Leo XIV and is to have talks with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni later.
Answering reporters' questions in a WhatsApp chat late Monday, Zelenskyy reaffirmed his firm refusal to cede any territory, saying that “we clearly don't want to give up anything,” even as "the Americans are looking for a compromise today, I will be honest.”
“Undoubtedly, Russia insists that we give up territories,” he said. ”According to the law, we don't have such a right. According to Ukraine's law, our constitution, international law, and, to be frank, we don't have a moral right either."
Facing pressure from Trump
US and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks on Saturday aimed at trying to narrow differences on the US administration's peace proposal.
A major sticking point in the plan is the suggestion that Kyiv must cede control of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine to Russia, which illegally occupies most but not all of the territory. Ukraine and its European allies have firmly resisted the idea of handing over land.
In an exchange with reporters on Sunday night, Trump appeared frustrated with Zelenskyy, claiming the Ukrainian leader “hasn't yet read the proposal”. Trump has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Zelenskyy since winning a second term, insisting the war was a waste of US taxpayers' money. Trump has also repeatedly urged the Ukrainians to cede land to Russia to end the nearly four-year conflict.
Zelenskyy said Monday that Trump “certainly wants to end the war. ... Surely, he has his own vision. We live here, from within we see details and nuances, we perceive everything much deeper, because this is our motherland.” He said the current US peace plan differs from earlier versions in that it now has 20 points, down from 28, after he said some “obvious anti-Ukrainian points were removed.”
Starmer, Macron and Merz strongly backed Kyiv, with the UK leader saying on Monday that the push for peace was at a “critical stage,” and stressed the need for “a just and lasting ceasefire.” Merz, meanwhile, said he was “sceptical” about some details in documents released by the US “We have to talk about it. That's why we are here,” he said. “The coming days … could be a decisive time for all of us.” European leaders are working to ensure that any ceasefire is backed by solid security guarantees both from Europe and the US to deter Russia from attacking again. Trump has not given explicit guarantees in public.
Zelenskyy and his European allies have repeatedly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of slow-walking the talks to press ahead with the invasion as his forces are making slow but steady gains while waves of missiles and drones are pummeling Ukrainian infrastructure.
Several regions of Ukraine faced emergency blackouts on Tuesday due to Russia's prior attacks on energy infrastructure, according to Ukraine's national energy operator, Ukrenergo.
Ukraine, in its turn, continued its drone attacks on Russia.
Russian air defences destroyed 121 Ukrainian drones overnight above various Russian regions and occupied Crimea, Russia's Ministry of Defence said Tuesday. In Chuvashia, a region about 900 kilometres (about 560 miles) northeast of the border with Ukraine, the attack damaged residential buildings and injured nine people, local governor Oleg Nikolayev said in an online statement.
Ukraine's Security Service carried out a drone attack on an LPG terminal at the port of Temryuk in Russia's Krasnodar region on Dec. 5, according to an official with knowledge of the operation who spoke to The Associated Press.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment publicly, said the strike sparked a large fire at the facility. More than 20 LPG storage tanks were set ablaze and burned for more than three days, he said. The attack also damaged railway tank cars, an intermediate refuelling tank, and a loading and unloading rack.
(PTI input)