All news

Kiev ready to recognize number of territories as de facto lost following conflict freeze

According to adviser to Vladimir Zelensky’s office Mikhail Podolyak, the use of NATO’s article 5 on collective defense, proposed by Italy to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, is insufficient for this purpose

ROME, August 21. /TASS/. Ukraine is ready to freeze the conflict along the current line of contact and recognizes that a number of territories are de facto lost. However, as stated in an interview with the newspaper La Repubblica by adviser to Vladimir Zelensky’s office Mikhail Podolyak, Kiev will subsequently attempt to regain the lost territories through diplomatic and economic means.

"Ukraine’s preliminary position is as follows: we understand that one of the scenarios for ending the war is freezing the conflict along the frontline. This concerns the territories de facto controlled by Russia. They will remain as such for now, and then a major effort will follow using diplomatic and economic leverage to return these territories to Ukraine. But de jure, they remain part of Ukraine," he said.

According to him, the use of NATO’s article 5 on collective defense, proposed by Italy to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, is insufficient for this purpose. "Ukraine must have a certain alliance, maybe not NATO, but an alliance," Podolyak stated.

In an interview with Fox News on August 19, US President Donald Trump said that France, Germany and the United Kingdom want to deploy troops in Ukraine. He indicated that as long as he heads the US administration, there will be no American troops in Ukraine. On August 18, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia does not accept any scenarios involving the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine that could lead to an uncontrolled escalation of the conflict.