Ukraines Zelensky refuses to give up land to Russia: Precisely what we are fighting for

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was adamant Monday that Kyiv would not cede territory to Russia — a central demand Moscow has pushed and one that appears in the latest draft of the US-negotiated proposal to end the war in Ukraine.“We have no right to give anything away — not under our laws, not under international law, not under moral law,” Zelensky told reporters on Monday.“Russia is, of course, insisting that we give up territory.

We, of course, do not want to give up anything — that is precisely what we are fighting for, as you are well aware.”“To be honest, the Americans are looking for a compromise today,” he added.The current draft proposal includes 20 points — whittled down from the 28-point proposal blasted as a Kremlin-friendly wishlist straight out of Vladimir Putin’s desk drawer and up from a pre-Moscow meeting 19-point plan — and has been scrubbed of what Zelensky called its most “anti-Ukrainian” pieces.The new version shows Kyiv is willing to talk, he said — while still stressing that surrendering land was off the table as he addressed Ukrainian reporters following a meeting in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz.“Not everything our partners came back with is to our liking,” he said of the latest plan developed after last week’s US-Russia meeting at the Kremlin.“Although that is less a question for the Americans and more a question for the Russians.

But we will definitely work on it.”But other tough issues — such as funding and security guarantees — remain wide open.The US remains the only country capable of providing security guarantees that matter, Zelensky said — adding that he won’t accept another toothless agreement like the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which pledged the US would protect Ukraine from Russian invasion after it gave up its nuclear arsenal.“The strongest security guarantees we can receive are ...