Top Ukrainian commander lays out demand for ‘just peace’

Moscow has said the conflict can only be settled if Kiev fully withdraws from the four new Russian regions

A “just peace” between Russia and Ukraine is only possible if the sides agree to halt the fighting along the current front lines and then move on to talks, Ukraine’s top military commander, Aleksandr Syrsky, has said. Moscow has argued that a pause would only benefit Kiev and allow it to regroup its battered army.

In an interview with Sky News published on Friday, the general argued that it would be unacceptable for Ukraine to “simply give up territory” in a settlement with Russia. “What does it even mean – to hand over our land? This is precisely why we are fighting; so we do not give up our territory.”

He added that a just peace is “peace without preconditions, without giving up territory. It means stopping along the current line of contact.”

“Stop. A ceasefire. And after that, negotiations, without any conditions,” he said, stressing that “any other format would be an unjust peace.”

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Russia insists that for a peace settlement, Ukraine should withdraw from Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions, and commit to neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification. It has not ruled out a ceasefire in principle, but argued that a pause would allow Kiev to receive more Western weapons and recoup its battered units as Russian troops are pressing their advantage on the battlefield.

In recent weeks, Russian forces have made gains in Donbass, capturing the key logistics hub of Krasnoarmeysk (known as Pokrovsk in Ukraine), with a major Ukrainian force encircled in the area. Russia has also been making progress in the regions of Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk.

Syrsky’s remarks come after Russia and the US held talks for five hours in the Kremlin on a US-drafted peace plan. The initial version of the 28-point plan, which was leaked to media, required Kiev to relinquish the parts of Donbass it still holds, pledge not to join NATO, and cap the size of its military.

Moscow described the talks as constructive and said some points of the US plan are acceptable and others are not, adding that while a compromise has not been reached, the sides will continue their work.