Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called today for no "gifts" of territory to be made to Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to end the war, while Washington appears to be considering recognizing areas occupied by Moscow.
"We all want this war to end on an equal footing, without any concessions to Putin, above all, not territory," Zelensky said at a regional summit.
Russia partially occupied four Ukrainian regions in the south and east, and in 2022 declared their annexation: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson regions.
It also annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014 after an intervention by its special forces and a referendum condemned by Kiev and the West.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that international recognition of these annexations is imperative to ending the invasion of Ukraine launched in 2022.
The administration of US President Donald Trump, which wants to end the war as soon as possible, envisages recognizing Crimea as Russian and forcing Ukraine to give it up, media reports.
Volodymyr Zelensky, on the other hand, has repeatedly said in recent days that such a possibility would be unacceptable to Kiev.
But Trump said on Sunday that the Ukrainian president's position could change.
In his daily address today, Zelensky also once again called on Russia to accept a general and unconditional 30-day ceasefire.
The Kremlin refused.
Putin ordered his soldiers to observe a ceasefire from May 8 to 10, during celebrations of the victory over Nazi Germany 80 years ago, when a large military parade is planned for May 9 in Moscow.
DON'T MISS IT
Bonus video:
