18 December 2024, 23:36 | Updated: 19 December 2024, 00:33
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has admitted that Ukraine cannot overpower Russia militarily to beat it back from the territories it has annexed.
The Ukrainian president said that the only way that Crimea and eastern Ukraine could be brought back under Kyiv’s control was via diplomacy.
His comments mark a change from his previous stance, in which he had declared that Ukraine could reconquer the territory ceded in 2014 and since the 2022 invasion.
It came as Keir Starmer urged Donald Trump not to go back on US support for Ukraine, as the president-elect prepares for power in January.
Mr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday: “We cannot give up our territories. The Ukrainian constitution forbids us to do so.
“De facto, these territories are now controlled by the Russians. We do not have the strength to recover them,” he told Le Parisien, a French newspaper.
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“We can only count on diplomatic pressure from the international community to force Putin to sit down at the negotiating table.”
Russia took Crimea, a prized peninsula jutting from the south of Ukraine into the Black Sea, via a dubious referendum ten years ago.
Kremlin-linked forces also took much of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine in 2014, and most of the area is now under Russian control.
Russia has also conquered much of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, without seizing the main cities in either. The Kremlin has said that both regions are legally Russian, a claim that Ukraine and its Western allies reject.
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Speaking in November, Mr Zelenskyy said that he would be prepared to end the “hot phase” of the war in exchange for NATO membership.
This is unlikely, given that if a NATO member is attacked, other members of the alliance are bound to defend it. NATO members do not want to be in a direct conflict with Russia.
It comes as Donald Trump prepares to take office as US president in January.
He is intent on striking a peace deal between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s warring nations as soon as he comes to the White House.
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Mr Trump said he disagreed “very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia” in an interview with Time Magazine, but insisted he would not abandon Kyiv.
The UK has been one of Ukraine’s most vocal backers, and Sir Keir told Mr Trump in a call on Wednesday afternoon that it was important “to ensure Ukraine is in the strongest possible position” in its fight with Kremlin forces.
A Number 10 spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister spoke to President-elect Donald Trump this afternoon from Downing Street.
“The Prime Minister began by congratulating President-elect Trump on his recent team appointments and President-elect Trump warmly recounted his meeting with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in Paris earlier this month.
“Both agreed on their joint ambition to strengthen the close and historic relationship between the UK and the US. They looked forward to working together on shared priorities, including international security and delivering economic growth and prosperity.
“Turning to global conflicts, the Prime Minister reiterated the need for allies to stand together with Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression and to ensure Ukraine is in the strongest possible position.
“On the Middle East, the Prime Minister underscored the need to work together to ensure peace and security in the region.
“They agreed to keep in touch and looked forward to seeing one another at the earliest opportunity.”
Speaking during a visit to Norway this week, Sir Keir Starmer warned it was time for Kyiv’s allies to “double down” on the financial commitments, sanctions and the training they were providing to Ukraine.
“It’s important that we put Ukraine in the strongest possible position if there are to be negotiations, and even if there aren’t to be negotiations,” he said.
“But it would be a big mistake, in my view, to take our eye off the ball and not ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position, which is why we’ve been doubling down on this at many of the international meetings we’ve had with our allies to discuss this.”
Earlier this week, Sir Keir backed Mr Trump’s calls for NATO countries to spend more on defence.The Prime Minister told LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast that the US president-elect was right to say that “Europe needs to do more” on military expenditure.
Starmer said he had been having “constructive discussions” with Trump on a number of issues, including the military.”As you know I met him a number of weeks ago,” he told Nick.
“I do think that when he says that Europe needs to do more, as a general proposition I think that’s right, and we should do more.