Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today that he rules out any withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbas, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
He made the statement on the eve of the expected meeting on Friday between US and Russian presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, which raises concerns in Kiev that the two could reach an agreement to the detriment of Ukraine.
“We will not withdraw from Donbas (the eastern Ukrainian region that includes Donetsk and Luhansk regions)“, the Ukrainian leader told journalists. Zelensky warned that if the region falls under Russian control, it will be used by the Kremlin as a springboard for future offensives and territorial gains in Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions.
Earlier today, in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Zelensky stressed that Trump and Putin cannot make decisions about Ukraine without Kiev's participation.
The Ukrainian president described Putin's upcoming visit to the US state of Alaska as a personal victory for the Russian leader. “First, (Putin) will have a meeting on American soil, which I think is a personal victory for him“, Zelensky commented. According to him, this will bring the Russian president “out of isolation” and will delay the imposition of new US sanctions against Russia.
Zelensky also reported that separate groups of Russian soldiers had advanced about 10 kilometers in eastern Ukraine, but expressed confidence that these units would be destroyed. He specified that the Russian soldiers did not have heavy weapons, only weapons that they could carry, and some of them had already been killed or captured.
According to the Ukrainian president, Russia was preparing new offensive operations in three directions on the Zaporizhzhia, Pokrovskoye (Donetsk region) and Novopavlovsk (Dnipropetrovsk region) fronts, without specifying details.
He added, quoted by Reuters, that he had discussed the upcoming meeting between Trump and Putin and with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.