Ukraine Would Lose a Quarter of its Territory if Ceasefire Called Now

A ceasefire without Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine's TOT (temporarily occupied territories) would mean giving Russia the opportunity to continue further attacks, Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar said in an interview with Euronews in Turkey.

According to Bodnar, the solution to the Russian occupation, which for many began in 2014 and was expanded following the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is to protect the country’s territorial integrity in line with the requirements of international law.

“Any other decision proposal should not be considered, and for this reason we rejected it,” the ambassador noted.

He added that many countries have already proposed the idea of ​​a ceasefire, but “none of them think about what it means.”

A ceasefire now, he said, would leave 25 percent of Ukraine under Russian control, and would allow Moscow to buy time to strengthen its military capabilities and resume attacks on Ukraine.

“Our method of ensuring peace are very simple - it is the withdrawal of Russian troops and preservation of international law, then we can start talking about other possibilities,” Bodnar said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to continue the war relying on tactics of creeping occupation and depletion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and counting on Western aid to Ukraine drying up as they tire of the situation.

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In the statement Putin made during the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on July 3, he rejected the participation of the Russian Federation in any “meaningful negotiations” without the “irreversible demilitarization” of Ukraine as a precondition for a ceasefire, which most interpret as a surrender.

Putin no longer perceives the Verkhovna Rada as a possible point of contact for negotiations, even though he previously declared it as the only legitimate Ukrainian structure with which the Russian Federation could conduct negotiations.

Earlier, the Razumkov Center co-director of foreign policy and international security programs said that Russia's strategy of a war of attrition completely coincides with the goal of the Russian leader.