A withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from eastern territories would create opportunities for Russia to push further into Ukraine and seize new cities. In particular, after Sloviansk and Kramatorsk the Russian army could try to advance towards Dnipropetrovsk Region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this in an interview for the podcast The Diary of a CEO.
According to the head of state, Russia is demanding that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the east, including leaving Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka. At the same time, handing over these cities would create the threat of a further Russian offensive.
"If we hand over these cities of ours to them, the risk is enormous. If he (Putin – Ed.) wants to continue, he can seize a huge number of our cities if he moves further on," Zelenskyy stressed.
The President explained that from this direction Russian forces could move towards Pavlohrad and Dnipro. He also named Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv as cities that are among Russia’s targets.
Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine is open to discussing security guarantees, but withdrawing troops raises questions about how those guarantees would work.
"The biggest compromise we are already making is a ceasefire. Let’s just stop this war," the President said.
At the same time, Russia is demanding that Ukrainian troops pull back even further.
- The day before, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is ready to agree to a peace deal that would freeze the war at the current front-line positions. In an interview with Fox News, he called such a scenario a realistic way to end the war.