The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky warned the US representatives participating in the talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine not to make unacceptable concessions about the occupied Ukrainian territories, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
"All territories belong to the united state of Ukraine. Only the Ukrainian people will make decisions about their national territory", Zelensky said.
"For us, it is a red line not to recognize a temporarily occupied territory as Ukrainian, but to recognize it as Russian", Zelensky added.
He said that the US representatives were saying things that were beyond their competence. His comments were likely aimed at Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, who is involved in the Ukraine talks, DPA noted.
Witkoff spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg last week. He then said that a possible peace agreement would also address the issue of the so-called five territories.
After annexing Crimea 11 years ago, Russia also declared the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions in Ukraine to be part of Russia in 2022. With the exception of Crimea, Russia does not fully control any of these areas.
Recently, Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russian foreign intelligence, said that Kiev should give up these territories.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odessa was attacked by more than 15 drones from the Black Sea.
This was announced by the city's mayor, Gennady Trukhanov, on the Telegram app. Loud explosions echoed in the city, Trukhanov also reported.
The sirens were activated at 00.48, and the explosions began at 01.15 and have been going on continuously for nearly an hour. Local authorities are urging residents to take shelter in bomb shelters until the alarm is lifted.