Zelensky on the demand to withdraw from Donbas: This is what Putin wants, not Trump's or Witkoff's proposal

The demand for the Defense Forces to withdraw from Donbas is the wish of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and not the proposal of the United States. This was stated at a meeting with journalists by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Head of State reminded that the US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said that there should be territorial concessions on both sides.

"That's how it sounded. And that Putin probably wants us to leave Donbas. So it didn't sound like America wanted us to leave. When we had two more NSA [National Security Agency] meetings, it became clear what Putin wanted," Zelenskyy said.

He clarified that this is not a proposal by the US president Donald Trump or Witkoff.

Zelenskyy is convinced that the American president really wants to end this war, and so does Ukraine.

"We need to have three meetings. Two bilateral and one trilateral. And probably after the trilateral one we will have a result. And, in principle, the American side is not against Europe witnessing some kind of result," he added.

The President explained that Europe's presence is needed because it is the bloc that helps financially.

"And I said: for this to be a general agreement, we need the presence of Europe," he summarized.

• On August 9, Trump said that arranged a meeting with Putin in Alaska on August 15. He confirmed that the United States is considering a "territory swap" between Ukraine and Russia as part of this process "for the benefit of both sides."
• Zelensky said that Ukraine will not give its land to the occupier and the answer to the Ukrainian territorial question is already in the Constitution of Ukraine.
• Senator Graham said that Russia and Ukraine will have to be exchanged some territories to end the war, but Kyiv must receive security guarantees to prevent Russian aggression from happening again.