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Ukrainian official says Kiev will not accept Russia's territorial claims in any peace deal

Igor Brusilo added that Ukraine expected to receive the Russian memorandum by the end of May

MOSCOW, May 27. /TASS/. Ukraine will never agree to the legal recognition of Crimea, the DPR, the LPR, the Zaporozhye Region, or the Kherson Region as part of Russia should Moscow include this as a condition for a peace deal in its upcoming memorandum, Igor Brusilo, deputy head of Vladimir Zelensky’s office, said during a Rada TV broadcast.

"We remain firm on the same positions as before — we cannot accept any legal recognition of Crimea as Russian territory, nor can we recognize the four regions as part of Russia," he said in response to a question about what Kiev expected from Russia’s memorandum.

Brusilo added that Ukraine expected to receive the Russian memorandum by the end of May, "probably, on May 30."

On May 16, the first round of talks between Russia and Ukraine was held in Istanbul.

On May 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed resuming the direct talks the Kiev regime halted in 2022, without any preconditions. Ukraine agreed to take part in the talks at US leader Donald Trump’s urging. Previously, Vladimir Zelensky said that a 30-day ceasefire was a mandatory precondition for launching talks with Moscow.

Following the meeting, Moscow and Kiev agreed to swap the prisoners of war under a "1,000 for 1,000" formula, present their concept of the potential future ceasefire, outlining it in detail, as well as continue the negotiation process. Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky who led the Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks said that the Russian side was satisfied with the negotiations’ outcome.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the work on the memorandum to be presented to Kiev continues. It will enshrine the principles and potential settlement dates.

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