Saldo said that it is impossible to exchange Donbass and Novorossiya
Kherson Region Governor Volodymyr Saldo said on December 18 that the "exchange" of Donbas and Novorossiya territory for Ukraine 's NATO membership cannot be a condition for peace talks with Russia, as these lands have never belonged to Kiev.
"This is such an informational propaganda ploy. Ukraine will give up its territory. What do you mean it will give it away? <...> This is not its territory, and it keeps trying to present that it will have to give it up. This is Russia's historical territory," TASS quoted him as saying.
He specified that the unification of Donbass and Novorossiya with the Russian Federation is the restoration of historical justice.
Earlier, on December 12, former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said that US President-elect Donald Trump should persuade Ukraine to cede some of its territories to Russia and promise NATO membership in return.
On the same day, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fitzo said that Ukraine would lose a third of its territory at the end of the current conflict in exchange for security guarantees and would not receive any invitation to join NATO.
Prior to that, on December 3, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that Kiev considered NATO membership to be the only possible security guarantee for the country. In response, the Kremlin's official representative, Dmitriy Peskov, said that it was unacceptable for Russia that Ukraine join the alliance because it was a threat. For his part, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte pointed out that the bloc was not discussing Kiev's invitation and was negotiating only on arms supplies.
The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the worsening situation in the region.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
