Volodymyr Zelensky, in the next phase of talks to end the war in Ukraine, intends to draw a red line at the most contentious issue on the table: the Russian demand for Ukraine’s sovereign territory. As long as he remains the nation’s president, Zelensky will not agree to give up land in exchange for peace, Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Andriy Yermak, told me today in an exclusive interview.
“Not a single sane person today would sign a document to give up territory,” said Yermak, who has served as Zelensky’s chief of staff, lead negotiator, and closest aide throughout the full-scale war with Russia.
“As long as Zelensky is president, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory,” he told me by telephone from Kyiv. “The constitution prohibits this. Nobody can do that unless they want to go against the Ukrainian constitution and the Ukrainian people.”
There are a lot of people who have sacrificed their lives to defend their homes from invaders. A lot of people would say that’s about as noble of a goal as you can fight for and pretty fucking far from “rhetoric” when it’s a hostile army burning your homes and raping your daughters but hey, yah lets keep saying what’s best for the country and what we need to “give up” to get peace.
Don’t bother replying unless you want to keep showboating for others.
That’s not some kind of virtue. Make the other fucker die for theirs, etc.
But once you’re dead, it’s not your land anymore. Telling tens of thousands of additional Ukrainians to die so the state can auction off a dead guy’s property to Jared Kushner’s holding company is fucked.
🚢