Ukraine stands firm: No territorial concessions to Russia

In a Thursday interview with the Italian daily "La Repubblica," the advisor to the Ukrainian president, Mykhailo Podolyak, declared that Kyiv does not intend to make territorial concessions to Russia.

After taking office, Podolyak addressed suggestions that the American administration under Donald Trump would urge Kyiv to make territorial concessions to Moscow.

"I do not think that an attacked country should stop resisting. We have been fighting for three years, and now we should give up our sovereignty?" the advisor to President Zelensky rhetorically asked.

Commenting on Trump's plans to freeze the current situation on the front, Podolyak said: "Trump is a politician who wants to be number one. The alleged plans circulating at this moment focus on concessions to Russia, but these are Putin's suggestions. If he were to follow them, he would become number two, and he could not accept that."

The advisor to the President of Ukraine also addressed reports from American media suggesting that Kyiv would agree to a ceasefire by giving Russia occupied territories. "Putin's goal is to destroy Ukraine and dominate Europe, so why should such an agreement be accepted?" he stated.

According to Podolyak, Trump has tools that could lead to the end of the conflict. He mentioned control over oil prices and "economic sanctions that would truly hit Moscow."

"In my opinion, this will be Trump's line; he is someone who can take drastic steps," he assessed.

Podolyak emphasized that urging Ukraine to relinquish part of its territory would be submissiveness to Vladimir Putin. "Kyiv should not be the one to make concessions," he concluded.