ISTANBUL

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said that no country should pressure Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia in pursuit of a peace agreement.

“None of us should exert pressure on (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy on the issue of territorial concessions. Everybody should pressure Russia to cease aggression. Concessions have never been the path to just and lasting peace," Tusk wrote on the US social media company X on late Sunday.

His remarks came amid reports that Washington had urged Kyiv to consider ceding parts of eastern Ukraine to secure a deal with Moscow.

According to The Washington Post, US envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly pressed a Ukrainian delegation during a White House meeting on Friday to accept the loss of the Donbas region as part of a potential settlement.

The report coincided with a Fox Business interview aired Sunday in which US President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin “is going to take something,” adding: “He’s won certain property.”

The Donbas region, encompassing Donetsk and Luhansk, has been the focal point of the conflict since 2014, when Russian-backed separatists seized breakaway republics following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.

Russian forces later expanded control over much of the area after launching a "special operation" in February 2022.

Trump and Putin are expected to meet soon in Budapest to discuss prospects for ending the war.