Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that his forces have recently regained territory in the country’s south, even as both Washington and Moscow push Kyiv to concede other areas in pursuit of a settlement.
Zelenskyy, speaking just days before the gruelling war's fourth anniversary, said the United States and Russia are still insisting that Kyiv give up its embattled Donbas region, a scenario that Ukraine has repeatedly ruled out.
But even against the backdrop of U.S.-led talks aimed at ending the conflict, Kyiv's army was recapturing land from invading Russian forces, Zelenskyy told AFP in an exclusive interview in the presidency in Kyiv.
"I won't go into too many details," Zelenskyy said, "but today I can congratulate our army first and foremost – all the defence forces – because as of today, 300 (square) kilometres have been liberated."
AFP was unable to verify the claim.
