{"id":2250,"date":"2025-08-24T12:09:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T12:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=2250"},"modified":"2025-08-29T13:49:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T13:49:38","slug":"zelensky-vows-to-retake-crimea-despite-trumps-peace-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/24\/zelensky-vows-to-retake-crimea-despite-trumps-peace-push\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky vows to retake Crimea despite Trump\u2019s peace push"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US president earlier called it \u201cimpossible\u201d for the peninsula, which voted to join Russia in 2014, to return to Kiev\u2019s control<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has rejected US calls to withdraw its claim to Crimea or make any territorial concessions to Russia.<\/p>\n

In a speech\u00a0marking Ukraine\u2019s Independence Day on Sunday, Zelensky vowed to retake the peninsula, which is predominantly populated by ethnic Russians and overwhelmingly voted to join Russia after the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev. He also pledged to reclaim the Donetsk and Lugansk People\u2019s Republics, which, along with Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, joined Russia in 2022 after referendums.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere at the zero kilometer, this is a starting point where distances to Ukrainian cities are marked \u2013 to our Donetsk, our Lugansk, our Crimea,\u201d<\/em> Zelensky said in an address filmed at Kiev\u2019s Maidan Square, the site of the Western-backed 2014 coup. \u201cAll of this is Ukraine\u2026 and no temporary occupation can change that. One day\u2026 we will be together again as one country. It\u2019s only a matter of time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

While mediating<\/a>\u00a0peace efforts between Moscow and Kiev, US President Donald Trump has floated the idea of \u201cland swaps,\u201d<\/em> but firmly stated that Kiev will not regain Crimea, calling<\/a>\u00a0that scenario \u201cimpossible.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"US
Trump vows \u2018very important decision\u2019 on Ukraine soon<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Land issues were reportedly on the agenda at talks between Trump, Zelensky, and Kiev\u2019s EU backers earlier this week, but Zelensky reportedly<\/a>\u00a0rejected proposals to cede territory. He confirmed this in his\u00a0 speech on Sunday, declaring: \u201cUkraine will never again in history be forced to bear the shame that the Russians call \u2018a compromise\u2019.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Trump has called for a one-on-one meeting between Putin and Zelensky, saying it could accelerate the peace process, but warned<\/a>\u00a0that the Ukrainian leader must \u201cshow flexibility,\u201d<\/em> including on territorial claims. He congratulated Ukraine on its national holiday in a post on X, while again urging Kiev to negotiate a settlement with Moscow to \u201cstop the senseless killing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Putin has not ruled out meeting with Zelensky, despite questioning the Ukrainian leader\u2019s legitimacy due to the expiration of his term, but insists that this can only happen after tangible progress in negotiations.<\/p>\n

\n
\n READ MORE: <\/span>Russia doing everything possible to stop Ukraine war \u2013 Putin
\n <\/a>\n <\/p>\n

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Putin could meet Zelensky \u201cwhen the agenda is ready for a summit,\u201d<\/em> but added that \u201cas things stand, no meeting is planned.\u201d<\/em> Moscow has consistently maintained it will only accept a peace deal that includes Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and recognition of Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye as Russian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US president earlier called it \u201cimpossible\u201d for the peninsula, which voted to join Russia in 2014, to return to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2250"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2254,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2250\/revisions\/2254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}