President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine will not recognise Donbas as Russian, either de facto or de jure.

Source: Zelenskyy during a briefing with Ukrainian media outlets

Quote: "As for the Russian position, it has not changed so far. You know that they want our Donbas. Our position is practical, realistic and fair, and we stand by it: we do not want to give up our Donbas. The Americans want to find a compromise and are proposing a free economic zone. I want to stress once again that a free economic zone does not mean it would be under the control of the Russian Federation."

Details: Zelenskyy stressed that the issue of territory is being discussed, but Ukraine will not recognise the temporarily occupied part of Donbas as Russian.

Quote: "Neither de jure nor de facto will we recognise Donbas as Russian. The part that is temporarily occupied. However, we will discuss the territorial issue. You know it is one of the key issues. At present, we do not yet have a consensus."

Background: It has emerged that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner pressed Ukrainian representatives during talks in Berlin on Sunday 14 December to give up the part of Donbas still under Kyiv's control.

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