War in Ukraine: Zelensky calls for no territorial "gifts" to Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged on Tuesday, April 29, not to "gift" any territory to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to end the war, while the recognition of regions occupied by Moscow seems to be considered by Washington .

"We all want this war to end fairly, without any gifts for Putin, and especially not land," Vlodimir Zelensky said at a regional summit.

Russia partially occupies four regions in southern and eastern Ukraine, which it claimed to annex in 2022: Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.

It also annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014 after an intervention by its special forces and a referendum denounced by Kiev and the West.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted on Monday that international recognition of these annexations is an "imperative" condition for ending the invasion of Ukraine, launched in 2022.

The Donald Trump administration, which wants to end the war as quickly as possible, is considering recognizing Crimea as Russian and even pushing Ukraine to renounce it, according to media reports.

Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, has repeatedly insisted in recent days that such an eventuality would be unacceptable to kyiv.

Donald Trump had estimated on Sunday that the Ukrainian leader's position on this subject could change.

In his daily address on Tuesday, Vlodimir Zelensky also called once again on Russia to accept an "unconditional and comprehensive" 30-day ceasefire.

Vladimir Putin ordered his soldiers to silence their weapons from May 8 to 10 , on the occasion of the commemorations of the victory over Nazi Germany, while a large military parade is to take place on May 9 in Red Square in Moscow.

The Russians "are worried that their parade is threatened, and they are right to be worried. But they should be worried about the continuation of the war," Vlodimir Zelensky warned on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian leader also stated that kyiv was "preparing to discuss with the United States new sanctions measures" against Moscow.