Ukraine Refuses To Compromise With Russia, Winners Of The US Presidential Election Will Impact Security Assistance

Ukrainian military combat equipment/PHOTO via Instagram @zelenskyy_official

JAKARTA - Ukraine has refused to compromise with Russia and surrendered any territory to end the war.

This was conveyed by a senior Ukrainian official when asked about the statement by US presidential candidate Donald Trump who boasted he could immediately end the conflict.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, during a visit to Washington, said Kyiv would listen to any advice on how to achieve "fair peace" in the war.

"But we are not ready to compromise for the sake of very important things and values... independence, freedom, democracy, territorial integrity, sovereignty," he said.

Yermak's visit comes ahead of next week's NATO summit in the US capital, where Ukraine is expected to be the main topic of discussion.

Trump, a Republican candidate who challenged President Joe Biden, said in a debate between the two last week that if he is re-elected in November, he will soon finish the war in Ukraine before taking office in January 2025.

Trump did not provide details on how he would do so, but Reuters reported last week that Trump's two main advisers had given him plans that would include threats to cut US aid if Kyiv did not negotiate with Moscow.

But Trump said in the debate he did not accept Russian President Vladimir Putin's terms. Putin said Russia would end the war if Kiev agreed to hand over four regions in the east and south of the country claimed by Moscow.

When asked how Ukraine thought Trump would handle the war, Yermak responded: "Honest answer, I don't know. Let's see."

Ukraine will lobby the new American government to continue to provide support, he said.

"This will be... the decision of the American people. We will respect this choice," Yermak said regarding the presidential election on November 5.

The United States has disbursed military aid worth more than 50 billion US dollars since 2022 for Ukraine.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that the US would soon announce new security assistance worth more than 2.3 billion US dollars to Ukraine.