KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday warned against capitulating to the demands of President Vladimir Putin ahead of talks Friday between the Russian leader and US President Donald Trump.
The US-Russia summit – so far planned without Zelenskyy – will be the first between a sitting US and Russian president since 2021.
Kyiv is concerned that Trump and Putin could strike a deal requiring Ukraine to cede territory to Russia.
“Russia refuses to stop the killings, and therefore must not receive any rewards or benefits. And this is not just a moral position – it is a rational one,” Zelenskyy wrote in a statement published on social media.
“Concessions do not persuade a killer,” he added.
New Russia-Ukraine talks set for Wednesday: Zelensky
EU foreign ministers are to hold talks on Monday to discuss Friday’s summit with many fearing any deal made without Ukraine could force unacceptable compromises.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in early 2022, has been making costly but steady advances across the sprawling front line, and claimed to have captured the village of Fedorivka in the eastern Donetsk region.
Both sides have meanwhile stepped up aerial assaults, with Ukraine claiming to have hit a facility that produces missile components in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region. Local authorities said one person was killed in the attack and two were wounded.
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