Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ruled out making territorial concessions to Russia, potentially torpedoing a US-backed ceasefire proposal and likely worsening relations with Washington.
A land handover — a key Russian demand and featured in US President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan — was rejected by Zelenskyy after meeting with European leaders Monday.
Trump has cast Kyiv as the obstacle to peace, expressing greater openness to Moscow’s stance. Russia is seeing military as well as diplomatic success: Its forces captured around 200 square miles of territory in November. The advances are slow but gaining momentum, and Ukraine, short of manpower, can do little more than avoid collapse. “The future looks really, really grim,” one analyst told The New York Times.
