Image Credit: HENRY NICHOLLS / Contributor / Getty 
On Monday Ukraine’s Dictator Vladimir Zelensky continued to attest his refusal of ceding some eastern Ukrainian land in exchange for ending the war and the killing.
In a back-and-forth conversation with a journalist from the BBC, the Dictator stood firm on his refusal to trade land for peace – the main sticking point hindering a peace deal:
What about Russia’s demand for Ukraine to hand over the 20% of the eastern region of Donetsk that it still holds – a line of towns Ukraine calls “fortress cities” – as well as more land in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia? Isn’t that, I asked, a reasonable request if it produces a ceasefire?
“I see this differently. I don’t look at it simply as land. I see it as abandonment – weakening our positions, abandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there. That is how I see it. And I am sure that this ‘withdrawal’ would divide our society.”
But isn’t it a good price to pay if that satisfies Putin? Do you think it would satisfy him?
“It would probably satisfy him for a while… he needs a pause… but once he recovers, our European partners say it could take three to five years. In my opinion, he could recover in no more than a couple of years. Where would he go next? We do not know, but that he would want to continue [the war] is a fact.”
One of Zelensky’s major political allies, Vitaly Kim, urged the Dictator to choose people over land during an interview with The Independent on February 2.
“The land is important, but still, people are more important and the situation is that we do not know what will be tomorrow,” Kim said. “So for the Ukrainian people, I think the victory is just stopping the war and some guarantees of security for the future, for our children to have the life that we had before the invasion … I think for the majority of our people, the victory is to have their life like it was before the invasion. And it is very important for us because a lot of time has passed.”
Over the last week Zelensky has twice called the peace negotiation efforts “shit” following nearly a year of grasping to land and his unelected rule. The Dictator maintains unelected rule via the war granting martial law powers, so ceding land and ending the war would likely also end his career.
Despite the war justifying his power, the Dictator claims to want to win the war, and reportedly believes he can. When asked what victory was Zelensky said it was control over the contested land:
Zelensky has often said that Ukraine can win, but what would victory look like?
Of course, he said, victory meant restoring normal lives for Ukrainians and ending the killing. But the wider view of victory he presented was all about a global threat that he says comes from Putin.
“I believe that stopping Putin today and preventing him from occupying Ukraine is a victory for the whole world. Because Putin will not stop at Ukraine.”
You are not saying that victory is getting all the land back, are you?
“We’ll do it. That is absolutely clear. It is only a matter of time. To do it today would mean losing a huge number of people – millions of people – because the [Russian] army is large, and we understand the cost of such steps. You would not have enough people, you would be losing them. And what is land without people? Honestly, nothing.”
“And we also don’t have enough weapons. That depends not just on us, but on our partners. So as of now that’s not possible but returning to the just borders of 1991 [the year Ukraine declared its independence, precipitating the final collapse of the Soviet Union] without a doubt, is not only a victory, it’s justice. Ukraine’s victory is the preservation of our independence, and a victory of justice for the whole world is the return of all our lands.”
Ukraine’s Dictator became defiant on February 16 as territory became a topic of discussion. He asserted absolute resolve in his continued unwillingness to cede any land in exchange for peace. On February 16 he said:
This is a big mistake to allow the aggressor to take something. It was a big mistake at the very beginning, starting with 2014. And even before that, during the attack and occupation of parts of Georgia. And even before that, when Chechnya was occupied, with total destruction and one million casualties – both killed and wounded.
Many mistakes were made. That’s why now I don’t want to be the President who will repeat the mistakes made by my predecessors or other people. I’m not just speaking about Ukraine. I’m speaking about the leaders of different countries that allowed an aggressive country like Russia to come onto their territory.
Because you can’t stop Putin with your kisses or flowers. I never did it and that’s why I don’t feel that it’s the right way. My advice to everybody – don’t do that with Putin.
Otherwise, there will be a first step, then in five years, he will rebuild his military, increase the number of soldiers, his army will be well trained. Because he has lost a lot of well-trained people. He is losing 30–35 thousand people per month now.
Can you imagine this in the 21st century? Can you imagine – he’s losing 35,000 each month? I’m not sure that he knows about it.
Earlier in the month the two warring nations met in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. A prisoner of war swap was agreed to, but territory issues remained.
In December Zelensky had a different tune. He announced that a territory swap would be acceptable to him, assuming there was a vote. This vote was never held, likely at the behest of a Dictator who would prefer for those statements to be forgotten about in the fog of war.
“The Russians want the whole of Donbass – we don’t accept that. I believe that the Ukrainian people will answer this question. Whether in the form of elections or a referendum, the Ukrainian people must have a say,” Zelensky said in December.
Just days prior the Dictator shut the door on President Donald Trump’s peace plan by refusing territory swaps.
Trump’s peace plan was put forth in November and included territorial concessions, which would have brought the war to a close.
Following Zelensky’s White House visit on October 17 that failed to secure long-range missiles to escalate the war, the Dictator decided to remain defiant of peace, refuse to give up any territory to end the war, call for increased pressure on Russia instead of a truce, then proceed to lie that Kiev wants peace while Moscow doesn’t. This is not a new behavior however, Zelensky has a history of defiance.
In an interview with Reuters on January 14 President Trump said Ukraine’s Dictator is responsible for stalling peace negotiations, not Russian President Vladimir Putin. Note that Trump’s peace plan calls for land secession.
“I think he’s ready to make a deal,” Trump said of the Putin. “I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal.”
The reporter asked the President who exactly he thinks is stalling the peace process, to which Trump said “Zelensky.”
