Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready to end war quickly but will not recognise occupied land as Russian

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told ABC News that he was ready to end the war as quickly as possible and accept a deal freezing it along the current line of contact.

He rejected recognising temporarily occupied territory as Russian. Zelenskyy also said Ukraine would not agree to “give up 25% of Ukraine”.

Zelenskyy cites occupied territory figure

Asked about a possible 25% territorial concession, Zelenskyy said Russian forces controlled a smaller share — 19.3% of Ukraine’s territory. He said the figure referred to the parts of Donbas under Russian control.

Zelenskyy added that he had heard proposals to recognise the temporarily occupied land as Russian, but Ukraine would not accept them.

Starlink, Patriots and diplomatic contacts

The president said restrictions on Starlink remained in place. He also said Ukraine had received 24 Patriot missiles from a strategic partner over the previous 90 days.

Zelenskyy had previously described freezing the war along the current line of contact as a real way to end the conflict.

On 21 October, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg. The meeting lasted about three hours and followed Witkoff’s talks with Zelenskyy and the leaders of Norway and Finland in Oslo.

Putin told Witkoff that Moscow was ready to resume trilateral talks involving the United States, Ukraine and Russia during the first ten days of November.