Ukraine will never recognise Russian jurisdiction over its occupied territories. This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a meeting with representatives of the Davos International Media Council in response to the question of whether he would allow Russians to "take back" the territory they had seized.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine will not agree to this, even if all the world's allies insist on it. Legally, these territories will be occupied territories.
"Until we return there, they will always be occupied by Russia. It cannot be otherwise," the Ukrainian president said.
If the territory is recognised as Russian, all Ukrainian losses will be in vain, he added.
"There will be no apologies. We will not recognise it legally. But we must do everything to end the hot stage of the war. And here, in this issue — the hot stage of the war — the number one thing is security guarantees," the president said.
- There are no official proposals from the US on the conditions that Ukraine and Russia must accept to end the war. Earlier, some media outlets reported that Ukraine may be offered to give up the occupied territories to end the war.
- Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also said that Ukraine might need to "temporarily" give up the occupied land.
- The Ukrainian president said that the army lacks the strength to liberate all the territories militarily, so some of them will require diplomatic negotiations. But before that, Ukraine needs to be strengthened.