The Ukrainian government has repeatedly emphasized that it is not going to cede its territory to Russia for peace. For Ukraine, there is only one acceptable way to end the Russian war: the undisputed victory of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the de-occupation of all Ukrainian lands.
The Russian media are actively spreading disinformation that the Ukrainian authorities are allegedly actively considering the “surrender of new regions” of Ukraine to the Russian invaders. In particular, the pro-Kremlin media claim that Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Presidential Office, “for the first time spoke about splitting up” Ukraine and “admitted that Ukraine would be forced to give up” Crimea, as well as certain territories of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions.
“It is interesting that Podolyak spoke about dismembering Ukraine. For the first time, the Ukrainian elite has allowed the country to be divided: to give up Crimea, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” Russian media write.
Russian media manipulated Podoliak’s quote, taking it out of context. Commenting on the results of the July NATO summit in Vilnius, the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council and the Declaration on Security Assurances for Ukraine on Rada TV channel, the Ukrainian advisor noted that Ukraine is now in a classic war of the twentieth century with a classic “empire” that is trying to capture Ukraine not as a result of modern high-quality military operations, but is trying to crush Ukraine quantitatively with the help of a huge amount of “Russian cannon fodder” following the example of World War II (see video from 00:18:47).
According to the advisor to the head of the Presidential Office, there are only three options for ending the war. Podolyak reiterated that only one option is acceptable for Ukraine – victory over Russia.
“We have won, and thus there is a state of Ukraine that will dominate the region in full and, accordingly, will have very clear partnerships. In parallel, there will be a demilitarization zone with the Russian Federation. Russia will be deprived of missiles of a certain range. There will be a summit to control Russia’s nuclear arsenals,” Podoliak said (see video from 00:23:11).
The second option is the defeat of Ukraine and the slow death of the country over several years. There is also a third option – in the middle, as Podolyak put it – with the conflict freezing.
“We have not lost, but there is a demarcation line – Minsk-3. This means that you will just die very slowly. They will connect you to a machine that will keep you alive. But this will mean that you have no statehood,” Podolyak summarized (see video from 00:23:11).
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of the Presidential Office, did not make any “admissions” that Ukraine “will be forced to give up” its territories to Russia. On the contrary, he emphasized that only one option for ending the war is acceptable for Ukraine – the unconditional victory of the country’s Armed Forces and the de-occupation of Ukrainian lands from the Russian invaders. Otherwise, the state will cease to exist.
The Ukrainian leadership has repeatedly emphasized that Ukraine is fighting Russia for its sovereignty, for the existence of the state as such. That is why there will be no “freezing of the conflict” or “concessions to Russia in the form of Crimea or Donbas.” The President’s Office has systematically emphasized that any agreement between Ukraine and Russia such as Minsk-3 is a “postponed war that will bring much more casualties and risks to the existence of our state” in the future.
