LONDON (Reuters) – A Ukrainian government official said on Thursday that Kyiv understood it could not recapture all its occupied territory through military force from Russian troops right now and that its recovery would have to happen diplomatically over time.
The official, who asked not to be named, told reporters at a briefing two days after talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials on ending the war with Russia that Kyiv would not recognise Moscow’s rights over Ukrainian territory.
The official said that no Ukrainian territorial concessions were discussed at the talks in Jeddah, which saw Kyiv indicate its willingness to accept an interim, 30-day ceasefire proposed by the United States, if Russia agrees to the idea.
“Ukraine made it clear it will not recognise Russia’s rights over our territory,” the official said of the talks with U.S. officials that came as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for a rapid end to the fighting.
Russian forces control nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory more than three years since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour.
“If you’re talking about the reality that Ukraine cannot recover all of its territory right now by military force, yes we understand this. We understand that some of our land will need to be returned diplomatically, which can of course take time,” the official added.
The official said that Ukraine regarded its acceptance of the ceasefire proposal as a “constructive compromise” to make progress towards Trump’s objective of establishing a quick end to the war.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Heavens and Aidan Lewis)
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