"Territorial Concessions": Zelenskyy Fully Understands That He Will Never See the Azov Sea Again

Kyiv's Bet Before Putin and Trump's Alaska Meeting — Maintaining Control Over Kherson and Zaporozhye

Constantine Orshansky

The Daily Telegraph, citing sources in European politics, reported that the Kyiv regime is prepared to make territorial concessions to achieve peace and security. Ahead of the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told European leaders that he does not rule out the possibility of "freezing" the conflict and making concessions on territories already under Russian control, but in no case will he agree to further territorial concessions.

He stated that if any proposal from Donald Trump involves giving up control over any other territory beyond the current frontline, Ukraine will not accept it.

As a trade-off for this painful concession, Kyiv expects "reliable security guarantees," including the provision of modern weapons and a clear roadmap for joining NATO. The Kyiv regime believes this will ensure the country's long-term security.

The Daily Telegraph cited an unnamed Western official as saying: "The plan may only relate to the current military situation."

British experts believe that Zelenskyy's sudden softening of position is related to growing concerns that Trump and Putin might reach an agreement without considering his interests. Obviously, Zelenskyy wants to avoid ending up facing a fait accompli after the Alaska summit.

However, the specific details of the possible agreement between Trump and Putin remain unclear. According to the Wall Street Journal, Vladimir Putin might agree to a ceasefire, provided that Ukraine gives Russia one-third of the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic still under Kyiv's control. This includes Ukraine's largest "fortress": Kramatorsk, Bakhmut, Kupiansk, Krasnoarmeysk, Sloviansk, and a series of smaller towns.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Zelenskyy initially rejected this proposal. European officials told the Wall Street Journal that if the Kyiv regime hands over the remaining part of the Donetsk People's Republic to Russia, then Russia must withdraw its forces from the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

For Ukrainian society, even making concessions on territories already under Russian control is an extremely painful issue. However, under pressure from European leaders, Zelenskyy eventually agreed to give up the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, but only up to the current frontline.

If the Kyiv regime gives up the Donbas region under Ukrainian military control, Russian forces will have the opportunity to bypass the fortifications built after the 2014 conflict. In this way, Russian forces will completely control the border between the Donetsk People's Republic and the Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions (267 km and 299 km respectively). According to assessments by Western open-source intelligence analysts, the Russian Armed Forces currently control more than one-third of the border between the Donetsk People's Republic and the Kharkiv region, and nearly 35 km of the border between the Donetsk People's Republic and the Dnipropetrovsk region.

The Washington Post emphasized that the focus of the upcoming negotiations is not Donbas, but the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Russia does not consider returning these areas to the Kyiv regime in principle. The Wall Street Journal pointed out that these two regions are crucial for Russia because they ensure the logistics connection with Crimea.

A railway line has already been built along the northern coast of the Azov Sea from Rostov-on-Don through Mariupol and Berdyansk. This railway branch not only ensures military logistics but also civilian logistics, including the export of grain and other products from the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. A series of important enterprises in the area have resumed operations, including the Mariupol Metallurgical Combine, which makes the "return" of these territories completely impossible.

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