Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would not legally recognise the territories temporarily occupied by the aggressor as Russian.
He said this in an interview with the CNN channel.
‘We cannot legally recognise the territories occupied by Russia as Russian. We cannot do it under the Constitution, under the law, and internally, it is a split for Ukraine and Ukrainian society. Our strongest weapon was during the full-scale invasion - the unity of our society... That is why we cannot play with things that can split society,’ the head of state said.The President noted that ‘if we had a lot of forces, equipment, etc. that we asked our partners for, we would be able to put pressure on the battlefield faster’.
‘If we don't have enough forces, then of course, some issues can be resolved diplomatically. And this is right. But we will not recognise the legally occupied territories as Russian territories,’ Zelenskyy reiterated.
He explained that this would mean forgiving the aggressor country for all the damage done - killed, wounded, captured and abducted children. ‘If you legally recognise certain territories as Russian, it means we have forgiven them. It means the world has calmed down and given them an opportunity,’ the Ukrainian president added, noting that this is a bad example for similar risks in other parts of the world.
‘We need to achieve our goals diplomatically. And the goals are a sustainable peace, a safe peace and a faster peace for Ukraine,’ Zelenskyy concluded.