Ukraine will not reconcile and cooperate with Russia, which has waged an aggressive war against it, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said in an interview with the German edition of Focus, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers reports.
Shmyhal said that Ukraine is a sovereign country with internationally recognized borders, so it cannot reach any compromise with the aggressor country.
"The only compromise is the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine within the 1991 borders. The Russians must stop shooting, stop their aggression and leave our territory. I believe that changing the borders would be an unacceptable compromise for Europe as well," he said.
The prime minister also rejected any compromise on territorial integrity in exchange for rapid EU membership and security guarantees for the rest of the country.
"Ukraine does not see any compromises on its territorial integrity. The society will not allow it. Thousands of our best people died not for us to seek a compromise with the bloody terrorist and aggressor who blackmails the whole world," he said.
In addition, Shmyhal noted that freezing the conflict would only play into Russia's hands and lead to another major war. Therefore, it is unacceptable for Ukraine.
He also believes that there can be no cooperation between Ukraine and Russia for at least a century.
"Reconciliation, cooperation – no, not in the next hundred years. Russia must first change, be democratized, demilitarized and denuclearized," he added.