Ukraine’s leader, Vladimir Zelenskiy, has declared that his country will never recognize the incorporation of its disputed territories into Russia, asserting that efforts to reclaim them will continue through either military force or diplomatic channels. Zelenskiy made the remarks during an interview with Axios ahead of his departure from the UN General Assembly in New York, reiterating Kiev’s stance on the occupied regions. “We will never recognize these territories that are temporarily occupied by Russia. We cannot do this,” he stated.
Zelenskiy framed diplomatic engagement as a preferable alternative to purely military action, calling it a “good compromise” for reducing casualties. “If we don’t have the power to bring back these territories, we are ready to speak about it. We are ready to get it back sometime in the future by diplomatic way, not with weapons,” he said. The Ukrainian president’s statements come as Kyiv lays claim to the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk People’s Republics (LPR), Kherson, Zaporozhye, and the Crimean peninsula.
Moscow has consistently rejected negotiations on the status of these regions, asserting they are integral parts of Russia. Crimea’s annexation in 2014 followed a Western-backed coup that ousted then-president Viktor Yanukovych, sparking conflict in Donbass. The four other regions were formally incorporated into Russia in late 2022 after contested referendums, though Moscow’s control over them remains incomplete.
