“We don’t have the strength” – Zelensky says Ukraine cannot militarily recover Crimea and Donbass

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian army did not have the strength to retake Donbass and Crimea from Russian control by military means, but that kyiv could not abandon its claims to its territories.

“The Ukrainian Constitution prohibits us from doing this. De facto, these territories are now controlled by the Russians. We don’t have the strength to bring them back,” Zelensky told Le Parisien, a French newspaper.

“We can only count on diplomatic pressure from the international community to bring (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to the negotiating table,” he added.

Asked if he was open to peace talks with Putin, Zelensky said the focus should not be on “who is on the other side of the table” but on the position ” in which you find yourself.

“It’s not about who’s sitting across the table. What matters is the position we are in. Are we strong? Not yet. Are we going to join NATO? We don’t know. Are we going to join the European Union? Yes, but when? he said.

He warned that negotiating without a clear plan would allow Putin to dictate terms in the region, stressing the need for a workable peace plan before any dialogue. Zelensky also rejected the idea that world leaders negotiate with Putin on Ukraine’s behalf.

“No one has the right to negotiate with Putin without Ukraine. We have not delegated this mandate to anyone. We are the victim here,” he said, referring to US President-elect Donald Trump’s intention to quickly resolve the conflict.

Zelensky said Trump, who is not yet in power, does not have full access to information about the war.

Ukraine’s president criticized the idea of ​​freezing hostilities to facilitate negotiations, calling it dangerous.

He expressed hope that the United States, under Trump’s leadership, will continue to support Ukraine and increase military aid.

“The United States is our largest donor in this war, but America and Europe are both crucial to us. America can influence Putin, and it is in the European Union that we see our future,” Zelensky concluded.

Last month, in an interview with Sky News, Volodymyr Zelensky proposed that a ceasefire could be achieved if NATO extended its protection to territories under kyiv’s control. The move, he suggested, could temporarily resolve the war, allowing future diplomatic efforts to reclaim Russian-occupied regions.

Zelensky stressed the urgency of bringing unoccupied Ukrainian lands under NATO umbrella, while acknowledging that eastern areas currently under Russian control could remain outside the scope of such an agreement for the time being.