With summit looming, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says he won’t give land to Russia : NPR

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a press conference while Denmark launched his presidency of the EU at the Château de Marselisborg on July 3, 2025 in Aarhus, Denmark.

Martin Sylvest Andersen / Getty Images Europe

hide

tilting legend

Martin Sylvest Andersen / Getty Images Europe

Kyiv, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that his country did not intend to give its territory captured by Russia in the current war.

“The Ukrainians will not offer their land to the occupier,” Zelenskyy said in a video published on several social media sites, including X. “We will not reward Russia for what it has perpetrated,” he added.

His remarks come the day after President Trump’s publication that he would hold a summit with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska next Friday.

Trump is looking for an end of war and suggested that Ukraine may have to give up part of the territory that has been captured by Russia.

“It’s very complicated. But we’re going to have it [territory] Back, and we’re going to change, “said Trump.” There will be an exchange of territories towards the improvement of the two, but we will talk about it later, or tomorrow. “”

Kremlin advisor Yuri Ushakov said on Saturday that American and Russian leaders are looking for a “long -term solution” in war. Russia has made multiple requests in the past which include control of the Ukrainian territory, the limits of the size of future Ukrainian soldiers and guarantee that Ukraine will never be authorized to join NATO.

However, Ukraine is not part of the summit, and Zelenskyy said that no decision could be taken without the involvement of his country.

“The Ukrainian people deserves peace. But all partners must understand what a worthy peace is,” said Zelenskyy. “This war must be put at the end – and Russia must end it. Russia began and drag it, ignoring all the deadlines, and that’s the problem, not something else.”

Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian leaders have always insisted that their objective is to recover the whole territory that Russia has captured. Russia invaded in 2014, then launched a large -scale military operation in 2022.

However, for more than two years, the fronts have barely changed. With more troops and firepower, Russia achieves additional earnings at a high cost, but has not made major breakthroughs. Ukraine has remained mainly in defensive positions.

The Russian forces control almost 20% of the territory of Ukraine in the east and south of the country.

A complicated relationship

Trump-Putin’s meeting is involved in the midst of a complicated relationship between the two leaders in recent months.

Trump came into office promising to end the war quickly, boasting that his ties with Putin would help conclude a peace agreement.

For months, Trump resisted Putin pressure, saying that his goal was a peace agreement. But more recently, Trump’s posture has moved while Russia has increased strikes against Ukraine. Trump threatened more severe sanctions against Moscow, and this week he imposed additional prices on India, a leading buyer of Russian oil.

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin on August 6 in Moscow, and then Trump said progress had been made.

Ukrainians are deeply skeptical of Putin’s intentions. They believe that the Russian leader gives himself up to talks to give the appearance that he wants a peace agreement, but thinks that he buys time to continue the war.

Putin met an American president last time in 2021, when he sat with President Joe Biden in Geneva. Trump met Putin for the last time in 2019 on the sidelines of the G20 in Osaka, Japan.