14:42
09.04.2026
The powers of the President of Ukraine and the Ukrainian authorities do not include the option to cede Ukrainian territories as part of a peace process, stated Ivan Stupak, an expert at the Ukrainian Institute for the Future and consultant to the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence.
“First of all, there is no option in the powers of the President of Ukraine, or the Ukrainian authorities in general, to sign away the territory of Ukraine. It doesn’t matter if it is 10 square kilometers or 1.5 square meters. There is no such option, legally, at all,” he said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Thursday.
According to him, even if Kuban or part of Belarus expressed a desire to join Ukraine, only the citizens of Ukraine could decide on the annexation of these territories through a referendum.
“Even if we were to fantasize and imagine that by some miracle the President or the Verkhovna Rada found the physical strength to break the law and sign this territory over to Russia, we must know that such an act is immediately followed by criminal liability under the article for state treason and so on,” Stupak noted.
Serhiy Yahodzinsky, Vice-Rector of the European University and political expert, added that Ukraine is currently being offered a deal rather than peace in advance, stating, “we are being asked to pay an advance for something unclear.”
“In the deal, Ukraine leaves Donbas. In the deal, Ukraine must resettle 200,000 people, or 250,000 or 260,000. Suppose some remain, and we know that some will remain… So we have to resettle these people. The question is where?” he said.
Yahodzinsky noted that Europe speaks about Donbas and is constantly interested in it.
“Notice how some partners reacted when the President of Ukraine and the diplomatic service tried to spread our understanding of security and our drone technology to the Middle East. I apologize, but there was a feeling that Ukraine should sit where it sits and not go beyond those limits. And so the question arises: if tomorrow we lose this card that everyone is currently interested in, who will offer us what if we hold no interest for them?” he added.