MOSCOW, November 20. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky has conceded that Ukraine currently lacks the military strength to reclaim its 1991 borders.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News, he stated that Kiev does not intend to relinquish its claims to lost territories, but it realizes that it will be impossible to go back to the old borders.
"We understand that, so far, we do not have that much of force so that with the weapons in our hands we could push [Russia] back to the line of 1991," he said, according to Fox News.
Zelensky also talked about the Crimean Peninsula, stating that Kiev is ready to "bring Crimea back diplomatically," acknowledging that the Ukrainian armed forces will not be able to take back the peninsula by force.
Donetsk and Lugansk People’s republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions acceded to Russia under referendums which took place there between September 23 and 27, 2022. Crimea and the city of Sevastopol returned to Russia after a referendum held in March 2014 amid the coup in Ukraine. Over 80% of all eligible voters took part in it, and 96.7% of residents of Crimea and 95.6% of residents of Sevastopol voted in favor of reconciliation with Russia.
Previously, Zelensky insisted that the military conflict must end only in restoration of the 1991 borders. However, in October, he said that Ukraine’s post-conflict border would depend on various factors, but Kiev would not recognize the loss of territories legally.
On June 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined the country’s conditions for resolving the situation in Ukraine, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbass and Novorossiya, and Ukraine renouncing its NATO membership ambitions. Moscow also insists that all Western sanctions on Russia be lifted and that Ukraine’s non-alignment and non-nuclear status be guaranteed. Kiev rejected the Russian peace plan.