General Oleksandr Syrskyi said peace can only be achieved if fighting is stopped along current frontlines
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It would be “unacceptable” for Ukraine to “simply give up territory” as part of a peace deal with Russia, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces has said.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi said peace can only be achieved if fighting is stopped along current frontlines before negotiations can take place.
He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of using talks with the US as a “cover” while his troops attempt to capture more Ukrainian land that could then be ceded to Russia under a peace deal.
“Naturally, for us it is unacceptable to simply give up territory. What does it even mean – to hand over our land? This is precisely why we are fighting; so we do not give up our territory,” he said.
Russia currently occupies nearly a fifth of Ukraine, including large parts of the Donbas, which Moscow reportedly wants to keep as part of a peace deal.
US President Donald Trump previsouly unveiled a 28-point plan to end the war – which included Ukraine giving up large swathes of land including all of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk.
Read more: Conservative MPs call for Government to reject US peace plan for Ukraine
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On Friday, Conservative MPs called for the Government to reject the “despicable and disastrous attitude” of President Trump and deny any US peace plan which would see Ukraine hand land to Russia.
Sir Bernard Jenkin told the Commons that the Trump administration’s 28-point peace plan has encouraged Vladimir Putin to extend the war.
The Harwich and North Essex MP and his Conservative colleagues called for the Government to reject any plan which would see Ukraine concede territory to Moscow.
Speaking during a backbench debate on the war in Ukraine on Thursday, Sir Bernard said: “The despicable and disastrous attitude of President Trump seems to offer Putin the opportunity to achieve everything he wants – the subjugation of Ukraine, the humiliation of Nato, the enlargement of the Russian sphere of influence at the expense of European security.
“Ironically, the effect of the Trump administration’s 28-point peace plan has been to encourage Putin to keep the war going.
“This is because Trump appears ready to give everything he wants to President Putin – that is, Ukraine as a Russian vassal state.”
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It comes just days after high-stakes talks between the US and the Kremlin failed to bring about an end to the Ukraine war.
President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US envoy Steve Witkoff were welcomed to the Russian capital on Tuesday and took part in a marathon five-hour sessions of peace negotiations.
But the President’s team left without a deal, as the Kremlin declared “the two sides were neither further nor closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. There is a lot of work to be done.”
Meanwhile, a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy’s aides and the same US delegates scheduled for Wednesday was also cancelled – dealing a blow to hopes of a peace agreement.
That is despite Ukraine on Tuesday agreeing to the US’ 20-point peace plan to end the war with Russia.
Mr Zelenskyy admitted that “some things still need to be worked out,” he said the agreement marks “one of the most challenging and yet optimistic moments at the same time” for achieving peace in Ukraine more than three years into Vladimir Putin’s illegal war.
“Now more than ever there is a chance to end this war”, Mr Zelenskyy said.
He refused to share the full details of the plan but specified what he described as the “most sensitive things and most difficult questions and challenges.”