LONDON: Ukraine may have to cede territory in order to secure “temporary” peace with Russia, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko told the BBC in an interview published Friday.
“One of the scenarios is... to give up territory. It’s not fair. But for the peace, temporary peace, maybe it can be a solution, temporary,” the former boxing champion said.
His comments came after a Russian missile-and-drone attack on his city killed at least 12 people and injured more than 80.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});Klitschko told the BBC that he was “responsible for the capital of Ukraine” and that President Volodymyr Zelensky may have to accept a “painful solution” to achieve peace.
However, the Ukrainian people would “never accept occupation” by Russia, he added.
US President Donald Trump is putting pressure on Ukraine and Russia to agree a deal, and it is reported that territorial concessions, including the United States recognising Russian control of Crimea—illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014 -- are part of his proposals.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and currently controls around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory.
Russia’s foreign minister said that Moscow was ready to do a deal on its war in Ukraine after Trump urged Vladimir Putin to halt attacks, in a rare rebuke following the deadliest strikes on Kyiv in months.
“We are ready to reach a deal, but there are still some specific points... which need to be fine-tuned, and we are busy with this,” Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with CBS News.
Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is due in Russia on Friday where he is expected to hold another round of ceasefire talks with Putin.
Lavrov said the talks process was moving in the right direction, and negotiations would continue with Washington.
He said the US president was “probably the only leader on Earth who recognised the need to address the root causes of this situation”, but said Trump “did not spell out the elements of the deal”.
Trump, however, issued a direct appeal to Russian President Putin following missile and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital early Thursday which left at least 12 people dead.
It was the latest in a wave of Russian aerial attacks that have killed dozens of civilians, defying Trump’s push to bring about a rapid end to the bloodshed.
“I am not happy with the Russian strikes,” Trump said on social media. “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!”
Trump, who is accused of favouring Russia and has often vilified Zelensky, was asked by reporters what concessions Moscow had offered in negotiations to end the war.
“Stopping taking the whole country—pretty big concession,” he replied.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, hoping to take the country in days, but has since been bogged down in a bloody war with huge casualties on both sides.
“I don’t see any strong pressure on Russia or any new sanctions packages against Russia’s aggression,” Zelensky said, highlighting that Trump had previously warned of repercussions if Moscow did not agree to pause the fighting.
Trump on Wednesday had accused Zelensky of frustrating peace efforts by ruling out recognizing Russia’s claim over Crimea, a territory the US president said was “lost years ago”. Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014.
“We do everything that our partners have proposed; only what contradicts our legislation and the Constitution we cannot do,” Zelensky said in response to a question about Crimea.
In contrast, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Thursday it was Moscow, not Kyiv, that needed to move forward in negotiations.
“The balls are clearly in the Russian court now,” Rutte told reporters at the White House after meeting Trump.