Zelenskyy ready for ‘digestible compromise” along current front line

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready to make a compromise acceptable to Ukrainians along the current front line, but he is not ready to withdraw troops from Donbas, the Financial Times writes, citing its source.

A senior Ukrainian official told the newspaper that during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Zelenskyy’s goal will be to discuss “an effective process of peaceful settlement without forcing Ukraine to take impossible steps, such as withdrawing troops from Donetsk and Luhansk.”

“For that, Zelenskyy is ready to go for a ‘digestible compromise’ along the current front line, which Ukrainians could accept,” the newspaper writes.

Earlier, on the eve of the Alaska summit between Trump and Putin, Zelenskyy had declared that he would make no territorial concessions, referring to Ukraine’s Constitution. Later, he told Ukrainian media that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would not unilaterally withdraw from the areas of Donbas under their control. He also said that he was ready to discuss the territorial issue only in a trilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

Reuters reported that following the Alaska meeting, Trump has been pressuring Ukraine to reach a peace agreement. Meanwhile, Fox News, citing a European diplomat, reported that the White House chief supports the idea of Russia establishing full control over Donbas and freezing the lines of contact in other parts of the front.

At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied reports that Washington supports handing over the entire Donbas territory to Moscow’s control. According to him, such decisions must be made by the Ukrainian side, depending on “what they are prepared to do and what they want to achieve.”