Zelenskyy says territorial concessions remain Ukraine’s ‘biggest challenge’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that protecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity remains the “biggest challenge” in ongoing negotiations over a US plan to end the war, following discussions in Paris with European and US officials.

Speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at a joint news conference on Monday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s priorities include security guarantees, sovereignty and preventing concessions that would legitimise Moscow’s occupation of Ukrainian land.

“Our biggest challenge is the territorial issue,” he said, urging partners to avoid any outcome that “rewards the war it [Russia] started”.

The comments came as officials from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom joined discussions in Paris, holding calls with US special envoy Steve Witkoff as part of an intensifying diplomatic push to end the war, which Russia launched with its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Zelenskyy said the meeting also reviewed the substance of talks held a day earlier between Ukrainian and American officials in the United States, adding that more meetings are being prepared across Europe.

Macron reiterated that “Ukraine must be the one to decide its own territorial boundaries”, while signalling that further discussions are planned between Washington and European allies on potential security guarantees for Ukraine should a deal to end the war emerge.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also emphasised the need for unity between Europe and the US on a pathway towards peace. In a statement, she praised Zelenskyy’s “consistently constructive approach” and said she hoped Russia would “offer its own concrete contribution” to future talks.

The territorial issue is shaping up to be the most sensitive point in negotiations, as Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, prepare to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Zelenskyy has said he hopes to speak with Trump after those talks. But Ukrainian officials have already told the US that Kyiv will not accept any settlement requiring it to cede territory.