Zelensky stated that Ukraine will not withdraw its troops from the Donbas

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine does not plan to withdraw its forces from the Donbas. In an interview, he said that Russia would "advance toward Pavlohrad and Dnipro" if Ukrainian troops were to pull out of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Previously, Zelenskyy had indicated a willingness to make territorial concessions as part of a potential peace agreement. He confirmed that Kyiv would be prepared to retain 75 percent of the territory the country held at the time it gained independence from the USSR.

On September 30, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties on the incorporation of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), and the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions into the Russian Federation. Prior to this, referendums had been held in these territories. Russian authorities have repeatedly emphasized that the status of these regions as part of the Russian Federation is not open to discussion.

On June 4, 2026, Putin stated that the Russian Armed Forces control 80 percent of the Zaporizhzhia region, 85 percent of the DPR, and the entire territory of the LPR. According to the Russian president, "there is no place where the Russian Armed Forces are not conducting an offensive as part of the special military operation."

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Source of information: News Agency e.g.: REUTERS / TASS / AFP / ANADOLU / INT.RU /Al Jazeera / CNN / AlArabiya