Zelenskyy on the surrender of territories: We have no right, the US is looking for a compromise

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has no legal or moral right to give up its territories, but acknowledged that the United States is looking for a compromise on this issue. The head of state said this during a conversation with the Ukrainian media.

"Are we considering ceding any territories? We have no right under the law, under the law of Ukraine, under our Constitution, under international law, to be honest, and we have no moral right either. Of course, Russia insists that we give up the territories. We certainly don't want to give anything away – that's what we're fighting for, as you know very well. The Americans are looking for a compromise today, I'll be frank," he said.

The president also spoke about the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant: "Yes, it is occupied today, but everyone understands... I'm not sure that Russia understands this, but we are talking with our partners about the fact that it will not work properly without us. That is why we need to talk about it here".

Zelenskyy admitted that the most sensitive issues in the negotiations are Donbas and the nuclear power plant, money for recovery and security guarantees for Ukraine.

In addition, he said that the issue of exchanging Ukrainian territories for security guarantees was not on the table during the talks.

"Although, we have heard the issue of territory exchange more than once. On some territories should be exchanged for others. I'm not sure that this is the right approach," the head of state added.

In this context, he referred to "small pieces" of territory in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions that "the Russians cannot hold".

According to him, this is a "complicated issue" because if the war stops along the front line, the question will arise as to what will happen to these areas of the territory: "We are talking about this (during the negotiations – Ed.)."

"That is, as I said, the issue of territory is generally complex. And this is part of the issue of territory. Of course, the most difficult thing is that Russia wants to seize a part of our Donbas, namely a part of the Donetsk region. And [the occupiers] are doing everything for this, putting pressure on us. And they will continue to do so – on their own and not only [on their own]. Through various tools: on the battlefield, information, diplomatic, etc. We need to defend what is ours," Zelensky summarized.

• During the same conversation with the media, the president said that the following had been removed from the peace plan non-pro-Ukrainian items.
• Earlier, Zelenskyy noted that the negotiators there is no common vision on the issue of territories.