Ukraine’s Zelensky rejects idea to concede territory to Russia, evokes appeasement of Nazis
- Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger says Ukraine must be prepared to give up territory to Russia in peace talks
- Vladimir Putin approved a fast-tracked citizenship process for people in areas of southern Ukraine occupied by his forces
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky savaged suggestions that Kyiv give up territory and make concessions to end the war with Russia, saying the idea smacked of attempts to appease Nazi Germany in 1938.
The angry comments by Zelensky and a senior aide come as Ukrainian troops are facing a renewed offensive in two eastern regions that Russian-speaking separatists seized part of in 2014.
The New York Times editorial board said on May 19 that a negotiated peace might require Kyiv to make some hard decisions, given that a decisive military victory was not realistic.
And former US secretary of State Henry Kissinger this week suggested at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Ukraine should let Russia keep Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
“Negotiations need to begin in the next two months before it creates upheavals and tensions that will not be easily overcome,” said Kissinger, who turns 99 on Friday. “Pursuing the war beyond that point would not be about the freedom of Ukraine, but a new war against Russia itself.”
Ukrainians support Zelensky’s position overwhelmingly, according to a recent poll that shows 82 per cent refuse to concede any land to end the war.