Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, stressed in an interview with Simon Shuster of The Atlantic, published on November 27, that under Volodymyr Zelensky any territorial concessions in exchange for ending the war are categorically ruled out. He recalled that “no rational person will sign a document conceding territory” and that “as long as Zelensky is president, no one should expect us to cede territory.” According to Yermak, the president “will not sign a document conceding territory,” because “the Constitution forbids it,” and no one has the right to take that path unless they intend to act “against the Ukrainian constitution and the Ukrainian people.”
Yermak explained that the only subject open for discussion for Ukraine concerns defining the line separating areas controlled by the opposing sides. “All we can realistically talk about now is defining the line of contact. And that is what we need to do,” he said.
Shuster noted that in doing so Yermak for the first time clearly articulated Ukraine’s position ahead of the upcoming round of potential negotiations on a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine.