Ukraine will not withdraw its troops from Donbass, Zelensky said

Ukraine is not going to withdraw troops from Donbass and legally recognize the loss of territories. This was stated by Volodymyr Zelensky at a meeting with journalists, fragments of which are quoted by RBC-Ukraine.

"If we are talking about withdrawing from the east, we cannot do that," he said, answering a question about the withdrawal of troops from Donbass. "But here the question is not only in the constitution, it is a question of the survival of our country, and here the question is about the strongest defensive lines, about the distances to industrial centers."

Zelensky also made it clear that he does not consider the territories of Sumy and Mykolaiv region controlled by Russia as objects for exchange, because he considers them too insignificant. He also noted that it is possible to talk about Ukraine's readiness for some kind of exchange only after these requirements are outlined.

"But Ukraine definitely does not legally recognize the occupation of its territories," he added, quoted by TASS.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump announced that he was starting to prepare a face-to-face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky. This meeting will take place in a place that has yet to be determined, after which negotiations will be held in a trilateral format, Trump wrote on the Truth Social network after his meeting with Zelensky and the leaders of European countries ended at the White House.