Zelenskyy says Ukraine will not abandon Donbas despite Russian demands

Zelenskyy made the remarks on March 3 in an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera.

“I want to be clear: I will never abandon Donbas and the 200,000 Ukrainians who live there. Why should I? Because [Russian dictator Vladimir] Putin makes it a condition for peace? And will he immediately put forward new demands after that? No, I will not tolerate that,” the president said.

He stressed that Donbas remains one of Ukraine’s key defensive strongholds and that retreating would give Russia a direct path toward central Ukraine.

“Let’s imagine that not Europeans, but Americans send their troops. For how long? I don’t want to draw parallels, but we must remember the withdrawal from Afghanistan. What happens if, in 10 years, not Trump but another U.S. president decides to pull the soldiers back? We need a strong Ukrainian line of defense,” Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian leader added that he had attempted to pursue a diplomatic path and agreed to a U.S. proposal to freeze the line of contact, even though many Ukrainian officials opposed such a compromise.

According to Zelenskyy, he followed the advice of U.S. President Donald Trump in an effort to at least pause hostilities, but Russia rejected the proposal and continues to insist on the full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbas.

“Then the Americans proposed demilitarized zones and free economic areas on both sides of the front. I said it must apply to both countries, but the Russians replied that it should only apply on our side. That is madness,” Zelenskyy said.

When asked whether he would consider leaving all of Donbas if allies provided security guarantees and deployed troops, Zelenskyy said Russia would not agree to the presence of foreign forces in Ukraine and argued that Europe must take a firmer position.

“I am not going to question whether Russia has foreign troops, for example, 10,000 North Korean soldiers. I do not understand why Moscow should decide which troops are stationed on our territory,” he said.

On Feb. 24, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa said Russian forces aim to reach the administrative borders of Donetsk Oblast by late March or early April.

The New York Times reported on Feb. 18, citing military officials and Western intelligence, that Putin is prepared to continue the war for up to two more years in order to seize full control of Donbas.

According to an assessment by the Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces have already begun artillery and drone preparations for a spring-summer offensive aimed at capturing key cities in the so-called “fortress belt” of Donbas, including Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.