Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky on Tuesday vowed not to grant Russia any land in eastern Ukrainians, saying that if the Donbas region was abandoned, Russian President Vladimir Putin would open the door to “start a Third War” in Ukraine.
Zelensky’s warning is expected to demand Ukrainian land as part of the peace deal ahead of President Donald Trump’s meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday.
While Putin is confused about the reported conditions for the ceasefire, most versions emphasize that the Russian president requires Ukrainian troops to withdraw from all parts of Ukraine’s Donbas.
“For Russians, Donbass is a springboard for a new attack of the future. If you leave Donbass from your agreement or under pressure, you will begin a Third War,” Zelensky said in a meeting with journalists. Russia illegally annexed the Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“I have no right to do so, so I am not going to surrender my country,” he added. “Today, if we leave the Donbass, the fortress, the terrain, the heights we control, we will clearly open the bridgehead in preparation for the Russian attack.”
Zelensky and Ukrainian military officials have warned that Russia is building up its troops for a new attack that is ready to launch by September.
“I have not heard anything. Tomorrow is not a single proposal to ensure that a new war will not begin and that President Putin will not at least try to occupy dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv,” the Ukrainian president told reporters.
“Territorial exchange is a very complicated issue and cannot be separated from the security guarantees for Ukrainian sovereign states and citizens,” Zelensky added, saying that the European Union’s involvement in peace negotiations is also important.
The conversation with the US, Ukraine and “all Europe” will take place on Wednesday, according to the Ukrainian president.
Trump has indicated that Zelensky will not be attending Friday’s summit, but the US president previewed plans to briefly communicate them along with other European leaders shortly after the meeting.
Trump speculated that his goal would ultimately be to bring Putin and Zelensky into the same room, hash their differences, and that only they could find a way to end the war with “land swapping” between them.
“I’m not going to make a deal,” Trump said. “It’s not up to me to trade. I think I should trade both.”
The White House on Tuesday characterized the upcoming meeting between Trump and Putin to be anchored as a “listening exercise.”
“This is hoping that the President will end this war, as there are only parties involved in it.
Asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins if the two presidents would meet one-on-one, Leavitt said it was “part of the plan.”
Zelensky also gave more details about the behind-the-scenes diplomatic talk on Tuesday, and explained his views on the outcome of US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting with Putin.
“Witkov said there should be territorial concessions on both sides. That’s what I heard. And Putin probably wants us to leave Donbas. “I don’t think Putin’s proposal is Trump’s proposal. I believe Trump represents the United States of America. He will act as a mediator and he will be in the middle, not in the Russian side.”
