Ukraine may have to give up ground for peace

The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, told the BBC that Ukraine may have to abandon the ground as part of a peaceful deal with Russia, against the backdrop of increasing pressure from President Donald Trump to accept territorial discounts.

“One of the scripts is … to give up the territory. It’s not fair. But for peace, temporary peace, maybe this can be a solution, temporarily,” he said in response to questions from the BBC.

But the 53-year-old former politician, turned into a box, emphasized that the Ukrainian people “will never accept occupation” from Russia.

He spoke hours after an attack by Russian missiles and a Kiev drone killed 12 people and wounds over 80.

It was one of the most deadly Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital for months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin began a full -scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

Klitschko is already one of the most utter Ukrainian politicians who publicly stated that his country may have to abandon the territory, albeit temporarily.

The mayor of Kyiv and Zelenski are political opponents. The mayor has repeatedly accused his president and team of trying to undermine his authority.

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 program today from his office in Central Kiev on Thursday, Klitschko noted that he was “responsible for the capital of Ukraine”, describing him as the “heart” of the war -torn country.

He said President Volodimir Zelenski may be forced to make a “painful decision” to achieve peace.

Asked if Zelenski discussed with him any details of a possible agreement, Klitschko replied frankly: “No.”

“President Zelenski does it himself. This is not my function,” he added.

Referring to a very public bust between Zelenski and Trump in the White House in February, the mayor suggested that key issues between senior politicians would be better discussed “without camcorders.”

Earlier this week, Trump accused Zelenski of damages to peace talks after the Ukrainian leader again excluded the recognition of Russian control over Crimea, the South Ukrainian Peninsula illegally implemented by Moscow in 2014.

Trump said Crimea “was lost years ago” and is not even “not even a point of discussion.”

But Zelenski pointed out a “Crimea” declaration of 2018 by the then Secretary of Trump in State Mike Pompeo, saying the United States “rejected attempts at Russia’s experience.”

Ukraine and its European allies in recent weeks have expressed concern about what many on the continent see as a warming of Trump’s relations with Russia of Vladimir Putin.

As the conversations are growing, Russian strikes on Ukraine continue.

On Thursday, an attack on Kyiv killed 12 people and wounds dozens, employees said. At a school that was struck, the BBC witnessed the body of a student, brought out of the remains, while the classmates quietly shouted nearby.

A school teacher talks about her injury and added that she believes that Russia would not stop its aggression if Ukraine abandons Crimea.

“Those who think Putin will stop, if he is given Crimea, they do not know who the Russians are, he will not stop,” she said.

She said that Zelenski expresses the opinion of “all of us and supporting him.”

Another woman who had helped rescue workers do 10 people, five of whom were dead and the rest injured were more critical.

“At the moment, I think it is better to be far from here because nothing good is waiting for us here,” she said, adding that “there will be no good solution” for Ukraine.

She said Zelenski “was a comedian and he had to remain a comedian.”