Zelenskyy tells Abramovich Ukraine will not withdraw from its territory

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he told Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich during a meeting in his country’s capital Kyiv that Ukraine will not withdraw from its territories.

In an interview with The Guardian published Tuesday morning, Zelenskyy explained his meeting with Abramovich, saying that he thinks there are different people around Russian President Vladimir Putin, of which half of them want to stop the Russia-Ukraine war while the other half wants to continue it.

Arguing that he thinks Abramovich arrived in Kyiv to give a message regarding “what can be the infrastructure of diplomatic negotiations,” Zelenskyy said he responded by stating Ukraine’s readiness for talks and to make Russia stop the war.

“I said we are ready but we will not leave our territory by ourselves, by our decisions. So it’s not about compromises,” Zelenskyy expressed.

Citing four people familiar with the matter, Financial Times reported Monday that Zelenskyy invited the former Chelsea FC owner to Kyiv in May in what it described as a “failed attempt” to convince Putin to hold direct peace talks.

The report further said Zelenskyy asked Abramovich to pass on a message to his Russian counterpart on his readiness to meet with him, and that this sought to show Ukraine’s seriousness about holding direct peace talks with Russia even with developments taking place elsewhere.

The Ukrainian president confirmed his meeting with Abramovich that same day in an interview with Sky News.

Abramovich has played a role in mediation efforts between Russia and Ukraine since the early months of the war in 2022.