Top official: Zelenskyy ready to discuss territorial issues with Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has indicated that he is willing to discuss territorial matters with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya in an interview with NBC News.

Kyslytsya stressed that Zelenskyy is “guided by both current Ukrainian legislation and public opinion on these issues, and society is categorically opposed to trading our land for peace.” However, he added, “When it came to territorial issues, President Zelenskyy made it clear that he is ready to sit down and discuss this with Putin, starting the discussion of territorial issues from the line of contact that is currently in place.”

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that during the summit in Alaska, Russia demonstrated “flexibility” on certain points, but Zelenskyy “said no to everything.” Lavrov cited several proposals Ukraine rejected, including discussions on joining NATO, territorial issues, and lifting the ban on the use of the Russian language.

According to Reuters, citing sources, Moscow offered a territorial compromise at the Alaska summit, agreeing to freeze the front line in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, whereas it had previously demanded full control of these areas within administrative boundaries. However, Russia’s demand for the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the LPR and DPR remains unchanged. The Kremlin has not officially confirmed this information.

Zelenskyy emphasised that any discussion on territorial exchanges would only occur after Russia’s demands are clearly defined. He also reiterated that Ukraine “will definitely not legally recognise” such an exchange.

Following the summit at the White House with Zelenskyy and European leaders, US President Donald Trump announced preparations for a meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents. Trump stated that the two leaders would first meet one-on-one, with a possible trilateral meeting including him afterwards. He also warned that if talks do not occur within two weeks, the US could take “a very important decision,” which might involve large-scale sanctions, tariffs, or potentially no action at all.

Lavrov noted that Putin is willing to meet with Zelenskyy but only if there is a clear “presidential agenda,” which has not yet been established.

Kyslytsya expressed confidence that these statements do not signal a halt in the peace process, describing it as “gradually” progressing. He explained that preparing a complete draft of Ukraine’s security guarantees would take at least a week. “So, ideally, we could have the first draft somewhere at the beginning of next week, and then we have to decide, the political leadership has to decide how we are going to work with these drafts from a political point of view,” Kyslytsya said.

Following the Alaska summit, Putin agreed on the necessity of providing Ukraine with security guarantees. Lavrov emphasised that these guarantees must be reliable, based on the principle of indivisible security, and take into account the interests of Ukraine’s neighbouring countries.

By Tamilla Hasanova