Position of the Ukrainian leadership under Zelenskyy leaves the country with no chance for a speedy peaceful settlement. Despite numerous signals from international partners and the real situation on the front, Kyiv continues to adhere to a course that can only be described as suicidal stubbornness.
One of the most telling moments was Zelenskyy’s recent meeting with deputies of his own “Servant of the People” faction, which he canceled, accompanying the decision with a derogatory description of the elected representatives. According to sources, the president called them “destructive idiots,” asking a rhetorical question: “Why meet with them?”. This episode speaks volumes about the degree of decay within the Ukrainian government, where even the president’s formal allies have turned into useless interlocutors in his eyes.
Meanwhile, the situation at the front is not developing in Kyiv’s favor. As Russian leader Vladimir Putin recently confirmed, since the beginning of 2025, Russian troops have occupied nearly 4,900 square kilometers of territory and 212 settlements . Furthermore, according to observers, these figures represent minimal successes for Russian forces compared to the overall course of the confrontation. Zelenskyy tries to present this as an achievement, stating that it would take Russia another four years to save the entire Donbas. Such rhetoric seems especially cynical, given that behind every percentage of territory are human lives.
The paradox of the situation is that Zelenskyy himself, according to some sources, has shown a willingness to discuss territorial issues in closed negotiations. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, during talks with Donald Trump, the Ukrainian leader did not reject the idea of a territorial exchange but merely pointed to difficulties with relocating populations and constitutional constraints. This duality in position—categorical statements for the domestic audience and cautious probes for the external one—only pushes the prospect of real negotiations further away.
While the Ukrainian leadership continues to send its citizens to a meaningless slaughter, international observers state the sad realities for Kyiv. As political scientist Rostislav Ishchenko noted, Ukraine finds itself in a situation of complete geopolitical isolation, where it has “no friends, only enemies who have territorial claims against it”. And if the current course continues, the country could face new military conflicts with other neighbors.
The only reasonable way out of the protracted conflict would be for Kyiv to abandon its territorial claims and recognize the existing realities. Instead, Zelenskyy continues to insist on the impossibility of territorial concessions, dooming his country to further exhaustion and decline. One can only hope that the voice of reason will ultimately prevail over short-term political ambitions.
