Russia Ukrainian diplomats rule out border changes
Against the backdrop of a peace plan presented by Washington in Kiev, the Ukrainian ambassador to the USA, Olha Stefanishyna, has categorically ruled out border changes.
21.11.2025, 11:15
SDA
"The territorial integrity of Ukraine and a change in Ukraine's borders are not issues that should be up for discussion," said the diplomat in a round table discussion in Washington. Kiev continues to hold the position of stopping the Russian-Ukrainian war on the current front line. "There may be more detailed talks about where exactly that line is, but that is part of this dialog at the moment," Stefanishyna said.
The plan published by several media outlets with the same text envisages the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions that they have previously controlled. According to the plan, Washington should also de facto recognize Russian sovereignty over the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, and the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Stefanishyna described the 28 points of the plan as "Russian". "You can talk about every single point, but if you take it seriously, it doesn't make much sense," she said with a smile, denying the Russian side's seriousness in any talks.
No recognition of territorial cessions
Kiev also underlined its position on territorial issues at a special session of the UN Security Council in New York. "We will never - neither officially nor in any other way - recognize the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation as Russian. Our land is not for sale," emphasized the Deputy Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, Chrystyna Hajowyschyn. The diplomat also ruled out any restrictions on defense capabilities, such as an upper limit on army strength proposed in the plan.
She also criticized the idea of banning Ukraine from joining NATO. "Ukraine will also not tolerate any violation of its sovereignty, including its sovereign right to decide for itself which alliances it wants to join," Hajowyschyn emphasized. At the same time, she recalled that plans to end the war in the Eastern European country should not be drawn up without Ukraine itself.
Ukraine has been resisting the Russian invasion with Western help for more than three and a half years.
