President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Saturday firmly rejected U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s proposal that a peace deal with Russia could involve “some swapping of territories,” effectively ceding Ukrainian land to Moscow.
Speaking in a video address from his Kyiv office just hours after Mr Trump’s remarks, Mr Zelensky declared, “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.” He warned that “any decisions made against us, any decisions made without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace… These are dead decisions; they will never work,” The New York Times (NYT) reports on its verified X handle on August 9, 2025.
According to the NYT, the U.S. president said he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir V. Putin on August 15 in Alaska to discuss a possible peace agreement, with potential land swaps “to the betterment of both” on the table.
Mr Zelensky’s sharp refusal sets up a possible diplomatic clash with Mr Trump, who has made resolving the Ukraine war a signature foreign policy goal, even if it means Kyiv accepting unfavourable terms. In the past, Mr Trump has criticized Ukraine for holding what he called inflexible ceasefire demands, suggesting the country was “not ready for peace.”
The Ukrainian leader’s position reflects a strong domestic sentiment against territorial concessions. A recent poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that just over half of Ukrainians believe land should not be ceded “under any circumstances,” even if this prolongs the war and risks independence. However, support for concessions has grown since Ukraine’s failed 2023 counteroffensive, with 38% now open to the idea, up from 10% two years ago.
Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s former president, also criticized Mr Trump’s suggestion, writing on Facebook that “Ukrainians are a nation that does not trade its own territories… we cannot set a precedent where peace is achieved at the expense of concessions.”
Mr Zelensky stressed that Ukraine’s constitution enshrines the indivisibility and inviolability of its territory. “The answer to Ukraine’s territorial question is already in the Constitution of Ukraine. No one will step back from this, nor will anyone be able to,” he said, while adding that Kyiv was prepared to work with Mr Trump and international partners toward a “real and lasting peace” — one, he insisted, that would not crumble under pressure from Moscow.
Credit: @nytimes via X.
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