Zelensky admits Ukraine does not have military strength to reclaim lost territories from Russia

Ukrainian president rules out conceding land to Russia but calls for stronger Western intervention

Ukraine lacks the military capability to retake all the territories occupied by Russia since 2014, president Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged, as he urged the West to take stronger action to confront Moscow.

In an interview with the French newspaper Le Parisien, Mr Zelensky made it clear that Kyiv would not formally recognise Russian control over any Ukrainian territory.

“Legally, we cannot give up our territories. This is prohibited by the constitution,” the Ukrainian president said. “But let’s not use such big words. Russia actually controls part of our territory today.”

He asked his Western partners to put more pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin to bring him to the negotiating table. “If today we don’t have the strength to win back all of our territory, maybe the West will find the strength to put Putin in his place... at the table and diplomatically deal with this war,” he said.

He suggested that more Western support, provided earlier in the conflict, could have altered Ukraine’s current position.

In spite of the difficult situation, Mr Zelensky rejected the notion of compromise over Ukraine’s sovereignty. “This is not about compromise. This means he will get away with everything again,” he said, referring to Mr Putin. “This is impossible.”

Russia controls 18 per cent of Ukrainian territory, 111,677sq km in total, encompassing the Crimea and swathes of the eastern region of Donbas.

A 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive to try and take back some of that territory saw intense fighting in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, but ultimately achieved little success with Russian forces staging significant advances in several areas since.

Mr Putin demands that Kyiv withdraw completely from four regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia – if it wants to engage in peace talks. Russia said it was annexing the four regions in their entirety last year, even though its forces did not control them fully, after referendums that were widely condemned internationally.

Mr Zelensky’s remarks come amid concerns that the US, Ukraine’s chief Western benefactor, could cut support after Donald Trump takes over as president in January. The incoming president has said that he wants to end the war on “day one” in office, without explaining how he will do so.

In a recent interview with Time magazine, Mr Trump said he disagreed “very vehemently” with Washington’s decision to allow Ukraine to fire American missiles deep into Russia but insisted he would not abandon Kyiv.

British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer spoke with Mr Trump this week and “reiterated the need for allies to stand together with Ukraine”.

“Both agreed on their joint ambition to strengthen the close and historic relationship between the UK and the US,” a Downing Street spokesperson said. “They looked forward to working together on shared priorities, including international security and delivering economic growth and prosperity.

“Turning to global conflicts, the prime minister reiterated the need for allies to stand together with Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression and to ensure Ukraine is in the strongest possible position. They agreed to keep in touch and looked forward to seeing one another at the earliest opportunity.”