Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement to Agence France-Presse on Friday that his country's army has liberated large areas of southern territory in recent days. As part of a counterattack that is still ongoing. Days before the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of his country, Zelensky confirmed that an area of 300 square kilometers of his country’s territory had been liberated, while the French news agency could not confirm this information.
Published on: 02/20/2026 - 22:32 Last updated: 02/21/2026 - 07:27
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in an interview with Agence France-Presse on Friday that his country's army has regained large areas of territory in recent days from Russian forces in the south.
Zelensky said in an interview days before the fourth anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of his country that 300 square kilometers had been liberated as part of a counterattack that is still ongoing. While the French news agency cannot confirm this information.
Peace talks remain stalled due to Moscow's insistence on the withdrawal of Kyiv's forces from Donbass.
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The direct negotiations that were conducted recently between Kiev and Moscow, with American mediation, are still faltering over the issue of the fate of the Donbass industrial region in eastern Ukraine, which is currently almost completely occupied by Moscow forces, and Kiev refuses to give it up.
Zelensky added, "The Americans and Russians say that if you want the war to end tomorrow, get out of Donbas." He believed that Washington was putting more pressure on Ukraine because it was "in a more difficult situation."
He concluded that Washington “considers this a solution to the problem,” while Russia considers it a way to “control Donbass quickly without loss of life.”
The Ukrainian president stressed that he first wants security guarantees from Washington, "Then we can talk about settlements with the Russians from a stronger position, whatever these settlements are, including what is related to territory."
But he believed that any Ukrainian withdrawal must be accompanied by a Russian withdrawal. He said, "If we retreat ten, twenty, thirty, or forty kilometers, then they must retreat."
Kiev confirms that the Donbass region contains military fortifications that prevent the Kremlin army from making a deeper advance into eastern Ukraine.
Read also: Peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev end in Geneva, amid American optimism and Ukrainian dissatisfaction
Withdrawal from this region will also have a great political and symbolic price for the Ukrainian authorities, as tens of thousands of soldiers were killed defending it.
Kiev is demanding security guarantees to prevent any new Russian invasion in the future, the most prominent of which, as Zelensky told Agence France-Presse, is the deployment of European forces “close to the front line” after reaching a ceasefire.
But Moscow does not show any indication that it is ready to make concessions, after nearly four years of battles, while the Russian President hinted that his army would achieve its goals by force if it was unable to do so through diplomatic means.
France 24/AFP
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