Ukraine's ambassador to Germany says 'not a single piece of land' will be given to Russia

Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany Oleksiy Makeyev told German television on May 30 that Ukraine would not make any territorial concessions to Russia and that peace talks had to include reparations.

"Crimea is part of Ukraine, as are Luhansk and Donetsk and the newly occupied territories of Russia. We must liberate our people from this occupation," Makeyev explained, adding that Ukraine would "not give a single piece of land" to Russia.

In late February, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology released a survey that showed 87 percent of Ukrainians opposed territorial concessions to Russia in order to achieve peace and maintain independence. Only 9 percent of Ukrainians believed that doing so would end the war.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly opposed the idea of territorial concessions.

During an interview with the BBC in mid-February, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that territorial concessions would only weaken Ukraine.

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The Kyiv IndependentKate Tsurkan