Ceasefire means 25% of Ukrainian territory remains under Russian control - Ukrainian diplomat

Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Türkiye, has said that a ceasefire without Russia withdrawing its troops from the occupied territories will give the aggressor "time to strengthen its capabilities and resume attacks on Ukraine." Bodnar said this in an interview with Euronews.

"Many countries have proposed the idea of a ceasefire, but no one thinks about what it means. A ceasefire would mean that 25% of Ukrainian territory would remain under Russian control and it would also mean buying time for Russia to strengthen its capabilities and resume its attacks on Ukraine", he added.

Bodnar stressed that the solution to the problem of Russian occupation, which has been going on in Ukraine for more than two years, lies only in the defence of Ukraine's territorial integrity under international law.

"Any other proposal should not be taken into account, and that is why we rejected it," he said.

Bodnar explained that Ukraine's vision of ending the war is unified and unchanged: "Our methods of achieving peace are very simple: the withdrawal of Russian troops and the defence of Ukraine's territorial integrity within the norms of international law, and then we can start talking about other possibilities."

Referring to the call for a ceasefire made by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during his recent visit to Kyiv, Bodnar said that Orbán's ceasefire proposal did not contain any details.

He added that Ukraine's desire to join NATO does not intend to provoke Russia or create geopolitical changes, but only to maintain security and "lasting peace".

"NATO is the only institution that can meet the security needs of the modern world, at least on paper," Bodnar said.

He stressed that if Ukraine becomes a NATO member, it will be a natural border between other members of the alliance and Russia.

Military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko says Russian propagandists cannot calm down after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba's visit to China. “The phrase 'Ukraine is ready for negotiations with Russia,' taken out of context, continues to spread across the web. An important addition to the quote: '...the Russian side's readiness to negotiate in good faith has not yet been observed,'“ political observer noted.

According to him, it is noteworthy that the Chinese side has consistently supported Ukraine's territorial integrity and has never expressed support for recognizing the occupied territories as Russian.

“What is important is that Russia is trying in every possible way to push the topic of peace talks on its own terms. To maintain and spread this narrative, it resorts to primitive manipulation, as it always does. In this case, its manipulation revolves around the fiction that Ukraine is ready to negotiate with Russia,“ Kovalenko stated.

He believes that negotiations with Russia will be conducted exclusively on Ukraine's terms, with an unwavering position on restoring the country's integrity within its 1991 borders.