Zelensky says Ukraine won’t cede eastern territory to Russia to end war

Ukrainian president says he thinks President Biden may visit war-torn country

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he will not cede eastern territory of his country to Russia to end the war.

In an interview with CNN on Friday, President Zelensky said that he would not give up the Donbas region, currently occupied by Russian forces, to Moscow as Vladimir Putin could use the territory to launch another attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

“[W]e understand that the fact that we fought them off and they left, and they were running away from Kyiv... from the north, from Chernihiv and from that direction... it doesn’t mean if they are able to capture Donbas, they won’t come further towards Kyiv,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper during an interview at the presidential palace.

Russia annexed Crimea, a region in the south of Ukraine, in 2014, and recognises a pro-Moscow separatist government in the southeastern Donbas. The area has been used as Russia’s staging ground for the invasion.

The Ukranian leader also spoke to CNN about his continued partnership with President Joe Biden. The White House has confirmed that there are no plans for Mr Biden to travel to Ukraine, unlike UK prime minister Boris Johnson.

“Do you want President Biden to come here?” asked Mr Tapper.

Mr Zelensky confirmed that he did. “I think he will. It’s his decision, of course, about the safety situation, but I think he’s the leader of the United States, and that’s why he should come,” he said.

Russian and Ukrainian government officials have met to discuss a peace agreement but no deal has emerged. The two sides continue to battle over territory in eastern Ukraine even as Russian forces withdraw from areas near Kyiv after coming up against heavy resistance.

Battles continue in the besieged port city of Mariupol where Russian forces are attempting to overwhelm outmanned Ukrainian troops in street-to-street combat. The city has seen some of the worst fighting, and Ukrainian officials say there has been deliberate targeting of civilians by Russian forces.

Russian defence officials vowed to “destroy” Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, however the Kremlin’s ability to capture the city remains in question after its failure to take Kyiv.

Exact casualty figures are difficult to estimate, but Mr Zelensky’s government says that Russia has lost as many as 20,000 thus far amid their efforts to take several of Ukraine’s major civilian efforts.

“As to our military, out of the numbers we have, we think that we lost 2,500 to 3,000, in comparison with the Russian military, who lost about 19,000 to 20,000,” he told CNN. “That’s the comparison. But we have about 10,000 injured, and it’s hard to say how many will survive.”

Last week, Ukrainian troops claimed credit for a strike on a Russian destroyer, the Moskva, off Mariupol’s coast. The ship later sank as it was being towed into Russian territory.

Moscow claimed that the destruction of the Moskva, the flagship vessel of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, was the result of a fire in its ammunition storage.

The Kremlin is also facing accusations of war crimes as reports of targeted killings, abductions and rape emerge in Ukraine. Ukraine’s government has described the atrocities as genocide, a claim echoed by Mr Biden.

The bodies of hundreds of civilians have been discovered by Ukrainian troops in Bucha as they retake areas previously under Russian control. Some victims appeared to have been killed execution-style by Russian forces, after being found shot with their hands tied.