Putin knows there will be no way out of Donbas, but does not want to end the war – Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin knows that Ukraine will not agree to withdraw its troops from Donbas, but it is deliberately demanding this because it does not want peace. He expressed this opinion during a conversation with journalists on August 20.

"I explained to [US president Donald Trump on August 18], why our territories are so important. And I said that Putin wants to sell us some kind of "air"-that he will not attack us, but in return, give us what you control. I think it's just a rebuke from him, and he realizes that it will not be so. Maybe he's counting on that, because he doesn't want to end the war. He gives you in advance some conditions, so that you cannot perceive them," Zelenskyy said.

During the same press conference, the president said that the Russians it will take at least four years to fully occupy Donbas.

The head of state also noted that the current economic situation of the aggressor country is a means of putting pressure on Russia during the negotiations.

Zelenskyy believes that this is why the Russians are thinking about how to end the war, but with some kind of "victory for themselves" - and have chosen Ukraine's withdrawal from Donbas.

• FT sources said that during the talks in Washington, European leaders compared the Donetsk region to the American Florida – Trump was struck by this analogy.