Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has made it clear that Kiev cannot simply give up its territory as part of efforts to achieve peace, as this is against Ukrainian law. He made these statements in an interview with Fox News.

“We have an issue with the territories. This is not about a referendum, the parliament, or the president. We can’t just give them away. This is outside our legal framework,” Zelenski said, stressing that about 300,000 people live in these areas.

The Ukrainian president noted that Kiev has proposed a compromise, which he described as realistic, in the framework of the negotiations. As he explained, the proposal provides for the creation of a free economic zone, coupled with a simultaneous withdrawal of military forces from both sides. “If a free economic zone is created and we have to retreat a few kilometers, it will mean that Russia will have to retreat a few kilometers accordingly. If there is a decision on the economic zone, then a referendum will be the way to accept or reject this decision,” he said.

Meanwhile, Zelenski revealed that the 20-point peace plan is about 90 percent agreed, with outstanding issues remaining on two points, mainly on the territorial issue. He said Ukraine and Russia have different approaches to the territorial issue, which makes the negotiations particularly complex.

The Ukrainian president stressed that the United States “understands the positions of both sides” and is trying to formulate a viable compromise. According to him, Washington and Kiev have discussed a number of concrete steps to achieve peace, and the Ukrainian side has already moved to implement some of them within the current month.

Zelensky added that the approval of the peace plan by the Ukrainian people would be a major success for US President Donald Trump, noting that the relevant initiatives are being implemented under his leadership.

It will be recalled that, according to Zelensky’s earlier statements, the 14th point of the draft key document between Ukraine, the United States, Russia, and Europe on ending the war concerns the resolution of the territorial issue and may include a specific compromise. On the basis of this, Russia will withdraw its forces from the Dnipropetrovsk, Mikolayiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions, while at the same time creating a free economic zone in Donbass. Such a compromise, if reached, would have to be put to a referendum in Ukraine.