Overview

• Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj declared that all occupied territories remain part of Ukraine, rejecting any peace deal that recognizes them as Russian.
• Selenskyj emphasized that decisions about Ukraine's borders rest solely with its people, calling territorial concessions a red line for his government.
• US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff recently discussed potential peace terms with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including negotiations over five disputed regions.
• Russia claims sovereignty over Crimea and four other Ukrainian regions, though it fully controls only Crimea, with the rest remaining contested.
• Ukraine has abandoned plans for a military reconquest of the occupied regions but insists it will not legally relinquish its claims to these territories.