“The red line is simple and clear to everyone. First: we will not give up anything. That will not happen, no matter who tries,” Budanov said.
He said that a solution for Donbas has already been developed that will primarily meet Ukraine’s interests, adding that “no one has the right to trade land.”
“I don’t think anyone in Ukraine would agree to recognize the loss of even a millimeter of our territory. I am absolutely certain of that. The fact that we have not reached an agreement is also well known. But that is what this process is for. It may or may not achieve its goal. That is also a normal situation. We are ready for any development,” Budanov said.
He stressed that if the country remains strong, it will have room to maneuver, while weakness would allow others to impose terms.
“We are in a situation where, if we are weak, no one will talk to us at all,” he said.
Budanov also said Ukrainians need to unite for the survival of the state, as “there will be no other option.”
On March 31, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was demanding that Ukraine withdraw from the parts of Donbas it controls, saying “then the war will end,” and that if Ukraine did not withdraw within two months, Russia would seize Donbas and “then there will be other conditions.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said Moscow had not set any deadlines for Ukraine to withdraw its troops from Donbas, while adding that such a withdrawal “should happen today, or better, yesterday.”
Zelenskyy has repeatedly said Ukraine’s position on territorial issues has not changed and that Kyiv will not agree to cede Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts to Russia. In an interview with Corriere della Sera published on March 3, he said Ukraine would not abandon Donbas and its 200,000 residents, as a withdrawal would open the way for Russia to advance deeper into the country and would not stop further demands from the Kremlin.