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Zelensky acknowledges Ukrainian army’s inability to reclaim lost territories

The Ukrainian president added that the conflict in Ukraine had entered "a difficult phase."

MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces are unable to regain the lost territories, Vladimir Zelensky admitted.

"Our army is not strong enough to do this; it’s true," he said in an interview with Japan’s Kyodo news agency in response to a question.

Zelensky added that the conflict in Ukraine had entered "a difficult phase."

Earlier, Zelensky insisted that Ukraine should continue the conflict until the 1991 borders were restored. However, in the past few weeks, Zelensky and his chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, have begun admitting that it won't be possible.

The Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, joined Russia based on referendums held in the four regions on September 23-27, 2022. Crimea and the city of Sevastopol reunited with Russia following a March 2014 referendum amid a coup in Ukraine. Most voters supported the reunification idea (96.7% in Crimea and 95.6% in Sevastopol), with turnout reaching 80%.