Kiev's First Diplomat: We Will Never Recognize Russia's Stolen Territories

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga Said That Ukraine Will Never Recognize Russia's Occupation of Ukrainian Territories, Will Not Agree to Any Restrictions on the Army, and Will Not Allow Its Choice of Alliances to Be Blocked. He announced this at a press conference with his Lithuanian counterpart Kestutis Budrys in Kiev, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

"We will never recognize any territories stolen by Russia, we will not agree to any limitations on our army or defense capabilities, we will not allow anyone to block our choice of alliances from the Alliance“, Szybiga stressed.

He added that the Ukrainian army must become stronger, and deterrence against Russia must be strengthened both now and after the war.

The minister also informed his Lithuanian counterpart about the results of the negotiations in Saudi Arabia and emphasized Ukraine's principled positions.

The foreign minister stressed that Lithuania is one of Ukraine's closest allies. According to him, the total amount of Lithuanian aid amounts to over 1.5 billion. euros, which is about 2% of GDP, and expressed gratitude to Lithuania for its unwavering support.

In March and June 2024, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the New York Times (NYT) published different versions of draft agreements that Ukraine and the Russian Federation allegedly reached in Istanbul in March and April 2022. According to media reports, the documents showed that the two sides agreed from the outset that Ukraine would abandon its aspirations to join NATO and would be a “permanently neutral state that does not participate in military blocs“.

The draft agreements are also said to prohibit Ukraine from receiving foreign weapons or accepting foreign military personnel.

According to reports by the WSJ and NYT, Russia is insisting that the size of the Ukrainian armed forces be limited to 85,000 soldiers, 342 tanks and 519 artillery systems.

On March 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a visit to Murmansk that a “temporary external administration“ could be introduced in Ukraine under the auspices of the UN in order to “create conditions for peace talks”. He then reiterated his concerns about the alleged illegitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said that Russia "does not understand" with whom to negotiate to end the war.

The White House responded by saying that the government in Ukraine is determined by the country's constitution and its people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed on March 28 that the EU and the US had rejected Putin's new demands and said that the Russian president was afraid of negotiations with Ukraine and with its president personally. In this way, he demonstrated that he did not want to end the war, Zelensky believed.