NEW YORK, December 4. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky has softened his tone with regard to territorial concessions in the event of a truce and a peace agreement with Russia, the US-based Responsible Statecraft portal reported.
According to its assessments, back in October, Zelensky continued to insist that Ukraine would not cede any of its territory to Russia. However, as Russian troops break through Ukrainian defenses on their increasingly rapid westward advance, Zelensky has been softening his rhetoric with regard to territorial concessions in his interviews. For instance, the portal notes that when asked by Fox News if Zelensky had accepted that some Ukrainian territory may remain in Russian hands under any sort of a ceasefire agreement or a peace deal, "his answer differed subtly, but significantly, from his earlier statements."
According to Responsible Statecraft, Zelensky's new attitude indicates that the Kiev regime recognizes that "it is not going to win this war militarily and that it needs to begin to negotiate a solution before it loses more territory." The portal concludes that "the crumbling Ukrainian lines may be causing a new reality to dawn in Kiev."
Speaking in an interview with Fox News on November 20, Zelensky 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 1991 borders due to Ukraine’s insufficient military strength. He 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.