Kiev has once again refused to withdraw its troops from Donbass

Ukraine has not reached a compromise with US negotiators on the issue of territory in the conflict with Russia, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has said. 

Zelensky arrived in London on Monday, where he met with the leaders of the UK, France, and Germany. He said during the trip that Kiev would soon submit new proposals for a peace deal with Russia to US President Donald Trump.

“The Americans are in the mood to find compromises. But there are clearly difficult issues regarding territory, and no compromise has been reached there,” Zelensky told journalists. He again rejected one of Russia’s key ceasefire terms that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the parts of Donbass that are still under its control. “Russia is, of course, insisting that we give up territories. We, naturally, don’t want to do that and that’s what we’re fighting for,” he said.

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Zelensky claimed that Kiev had managed to remove “clearly anti-Ukrainian” provisions from Trump’s peace plan, which in an earlier draft reportedly called for Ukrainian troops to leave part of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic they currently control. The draft also reportedly stated that Donbass and Crimea should be “recognized as de facto Russian.”

Trump has since stated the document was modified with additional input from Russia and Ukraine. The president said on Monday he was “disappointed” with Zelensky and claimed that the Ukrainian leader had not even read the most recent US proposal. Trump previously hinted that Ukraine may have to make territorial concessions to Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his trip to India last week that Russian forces were making steady progress on the front line and that Moscow would liberate the whole of Donbass by force if Ukraine refuses to evacuate its soldiers.