Photo: Depositphotos
On 3 April, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a just peace in the war with Russia is possible only if all occupied Ukrainian territories are fully returned. At the same time, he suggested that a diplomatic compromise might be needed to de-occupy some of them. The Head of State said this during a meeting with the heads of territorial communities in Chernihiv region. The video was posted on the YouTube channel of the Presidential Office.
“These are Ukrainian territories, they are one of the most important red lines for us anyway. In any case, these are temporarily occupied territories,” Zelensky said, answering a question about achieving a just peace.
The President stressed that Ukraine will never recognise any of the territories seized after 2014 as Russian. At the same time, he acknowledged that the path to returning some of them may lie not only through military action, but also through diplomacy.
“A just peace is when all these territories are returned. But if it is possible to find a compromise on the return of these territories, so that it happens over time through diplomatic means, I think, probably, as for some territories, this will be the only way,” the President noted.
This statement came amid ongoing discussions about possible scenarios for ending the war and the role of diplomacy in resolving the conflict. Zelenskyy did not specify which territories he was referring to, but his words indicate that Kyiv does not rule out the possibility of a gradual return of the temporarily occupied regions through a negotiated process.
Earlier, Ukraine’s official position was that any compromise with Moscow was possible only after the complete withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of territorial integrity.
