Directives for negotiations on establishing a ceasefire regime must include outlined red lines and they must be declared publicly, believes leader of the European Solidarity party the former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has insisted.
Poroshenko has said that we will “not agree” to become “a colony of Russia” and it does not matter if the US puts pressure on Kyiv, “we will not agree.”
The former Ukrainian President said that we will not agree to “change the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
“It [the negotiating team from Ukraine]… must have directives. And we must publicly know the boundaries of these restrictions,” Poroshenko said in an interview with journalist Vitaliy Portnykov on the Espresso TV channel.
Poroshenko named five point where there will be no compromises, he said, “First, we will not agree to changes in state sovereignty and national identification.
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“We will not become a colony of Russia no matter who puts pressure on us. Second, we will not agree to change the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
“We will never recognize the Russian occupation. And we must say this… The third non-compromise – we will never limit the Armed Forces of Ukraine… The fourth position, we will not limit sanctions [against Russia] until a full-fledged peace is achieved.
“Fifth, we will not voluntarily abandon European and Euro-Atlantic integration.”
This comes after the US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Monday that he questions Ukraine’s “integrity” and their “sovereignty,” this has sparked anger among Ukrainians.
Witkoff is part of the US negotiations to attempt a ceasefire and he caused anger in Kyiv as he claimed that Ukrainians living in occupied territories want to live under Vladimir Putin’s rule.
Witkoff told Tucker Carlson in an interview that Ukrainians who live in the occupied regions of Ukraine want to live under the rule of Moscow as they voted to do so in “referendums,” which were in fact sham referendums and Ukrainians had no choice but to vote in favour of Putin.
He added, “They are Russian-speaking, and there have been referendums where the overwhelming majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told the Kyiv Independent, “In his statements, Witkoff calls into question the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.”
Merezhko said, “Such statements are absolutely unacceptable and go against U.S. policy toward Ukraine.”
“That’s why it would be better if President Trump recalled Witkoff from the American delegation. Otherwise, it creates the wrong impression about U.S. foreign policy.”
Washington has signalled on several occasions that President Volodymyr Zelensky will have to cede Ukrainian territory to reach a deal with Putin as Kyiv is wanting the borders to return to pre-2014 borders, which the US has described as “unrealistic.”
