Matthew Soldano

🇺🇦🇷🇺 ZELENSKYY REFUSES TO SURRENDER DONBAS AND SAYS HE WILL NOT MOURN RUSSIAN SOLDIERS KILLED WHILE INVADING UKRAINE. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has delivered an uncompromising message about the war, Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territory and the conditions under which Kyiv would consider peace negotiations. His remarks address two questions that have shaped the conflict from the beginning: who bears responsibility for the destruction, and whether Ukraine should be expected to surrender territory to end the fighting. On the first question, Zelenskyy places responsibility squarely on Vladimir Putin. He argues that Russian soldiers are fighting and dying on Ukrainian territory because Putin chose to send them there. And he makes no attempt to conceal his feelings about Russian military losses. Zelenskyy says he does not mourn the deaths of invading soldiers who are participating in attacks against his country and killing Ukrainian citizens. He acknowledges that some people may find that position uncomfortable, but insists that the reality of Russia's invasion cannot be ignored. His explanation is rooted in what has happened to Ukrainian communities under Russian occupation. Entire neighborhoods have been devastated. Apartment buildings, schools and churches have been destroyed or burned, leaving communities without the places where people once lived, studied and worshipped. For Zelenskyy, that destruction is inseparable from the conduct of Russian forces operating inside Ukraine. He also rejects the suggestion that Ukraine should formally surrender Donbas as the price of ending the war. Sovereignty and territorial integrity, he argues, are essential foundations of any independent democratic state. That principle applies even to Ukrainian territory currently under Russian occupation. Kyiv may not control every part of Donbas today, but Zelenskyy insists that military occupation does not transform Ukrainian land into Russian sovereign territory. He says Ukraine will not recognize those territorial claims. The distinction is especially important as international efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting continue. Zelenskyy is not ruling out diplomacy. He says Ukraine is prepared to participate in negotiations in the United States, Europe or the Middle East. Moscow, however, is not an acceptable venue. He also believes President Donald Trump has the ability to pressure Putin into meaningful negotiations, pointing to Trump's repeated statements about his strong relationship with the Russian leader. But Zelenskyy stresses that Ukraine needs more air defense missiles to survive while those diplomatic efforts continue. Russian missile and drone attacks do not stop simply because negotiations are being discussed. Ukrainian cities, infrastructure and civilians still require protection, regardless of what happens at the negotiating table. His position brings together the military and diplomatic realities facing Kyiv. Ukraine wants an end to the war, but it is unwilling to accept that Russia's invasion gives Moscow a legitimate claim to Ukrainian territory. It needs international diplomatic support, but also the weapons necessary to protect its population while negotiations remain uncertain. And Zelenskyy's remarks about Russian casualties reflect the perspective of a president whose country has spent years defending itself against an invasion. For him, the fundamental issue is not whether Russia's soldiers are dying far from home. It is why Putin sent them into Ukraine in the first place, and why Ukrainian civilians continue to suffer the consequences of that decision.