Comments from Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko that Ukraine may be forced to temporarily give up some territories to Russia have been met with dismay by Ukrainian lawmakers who spoke to the Kyiv Independent.
"No politician in Ukraine is authorized to change Ukraine's borders — this is the sovereign right of the Ukrainian people alone," Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, a lawmaker from the Holos party and chairman of the parliamentary committee on freedom of speech, said.
"Therefore, such positions or proposals only play into the hands of the enemy, showing that pressure works and some concessions are possible," he added.
In an interview with the BBC on April 25, Klitschko said that with ongoing U.S. efforts to end the war in Ukraine there are "a lot of conversations about a possible solution."
"One of the scenarios is... to give up territory. It's not fair. But for peace, temporary peace, maybe it can be a solution. Temporary," Klitschko said in a released excerpt of the interview.
He added that Ukrainians would "never accept occupation" by Russia.
"I absolutely disagree with this statement," lawmaker and chair of the parliament's foreign affairs committee, Oleksandr Merezhko, told the Kyiv Independent.
"Maybe he expressed his thoughts incorrectly and didn’t mean it. The truth is, that Ukraine will never agree to any territorial concessions," he said.
"Ukraine will always retain its sovereignty over temporarily occupied territories. The question is when these territories will be returned and by what means — military or diplomatic means?"
Later on April 25, Klitschko in a post on Telegram sought to "clarify" his comments.
"I said that Ukraine could be forced to make territorial concessions in exchange for ending the war. Unfortunately, as we see, such a scenario is quite possible," he said.
"And many world politicians and media are talking about it today," he added, insisting he was not raising anything that hadn't already been raised.
But Inna Sovsun, a Ukrainian lawmaker from the Holos political party, told the Kyiv Independent that the comments were "the first time I have heard such an idea from a Ukrainian politician."
She expressed skepticism about the consequences of making territorial concessions to Russia in any form as part of any peace deal.
"If you offer your arm to a tiger, don’t be surprised when it takes your whole body," she said.
Yurchyshyn suggested the idea of giving up territory to Russia was not widely shared among other Ukrainian lawmakers.
"I have not observed any change in my colleagues' stance on the inadmissibility of recognizing the occupied territories as part of Russia," he said.
The issue of territorial concessions became headline news earlier this week after it was reported the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was considering giving de jure recognition of Russia's control of occupied Crimea.
A copy of the peace proposal given to the U.S. by Ukrainian and European officials earlier this week shows the diverging viewpoints of the U.S. on one side, and Ukraine and its European allies on the other as they seek to end Russia's full-scale invasion.
The document, reprinted in full by Reuters on April 25, includes "robust security guarantees" including from Washington, and no talks on territorial concessions until a "full and unconditional ceasefire in the sky, on land and at sea" has been implemented.
"We have no right to abandon our people or our land—it would be a betrayal of those who gave their lives in the war and would render their sacrifice meaningless," Yurchyshyn said.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
