Moscow says Ukrainian borders have not been the same since 2022

A Russia said today that Ukraine “is already another country” from a geographical point of view, compared with 2022, when the invasion began, in response to the US President, who admitted that the borders could be different.

“ From a geographical point of view, Ukraine is already another country. Reality on the ground is obvious. I do not think anyone can deny it,” said Russian President Dmitri Peskov at his daily telephone press conference.

Peskov thus commented on the statements of American President Donald Trump, who had said before that at the end of the war the territory of Ukraine “will have another way.”.

“I believe we will close [a peace agreement]. I think it will happen and they will eventually have a slightly different configuration for Ukraine,” Trump said in an interview with CBS published today.

Trump's statements appear one day before the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, with the mediation of the United States, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, in Abu Dhabi.

Trump expressed confidence that an agreement could be reached, although Kyiv and Moscow continue to disagree deeply with territorial concessions and security guarantees after a possible ceasefire.

“ A very important meeting is taking place,” Trump said.

“ I believe this war will end, and it will soon be over. And the only reason it will end is because of me”, continued the Republican leader.

Russia has been insisting for years on the international recognition, especially by Kyiv, of the five annexed territories.

It is the Crimea, annexed after the referendum organized by Moscow in 2014 on the Ukrainian peninsula, and the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.

Moscow considers the last four regions part of its territory within the administrative borders of 1991.

This recognition is contained in the Russian Constitution, although the Russian Army does not fully control these territories.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in October that his country is open to discuss the territorial issue only at a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, although in principle Kyiv is not willing to give up its territories.

Zelensky, who reported having had a telephone conversation today with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, explained that “doing everything possible to ensure that the trilateral format results”.

After the talks with the Ukrainian President, Von der Leyen said that the EU and its partners will participate in the talks, but the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, reiterated that the dialogue is on three.

“What will happen in Abu Dhabi in the coming days is trilateral negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, with the mediation of the United States,” he said during the press conference.

The Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi will be headed by Vladimir Medinski, adviser to President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian by the head of secret services, Rustem Umerov.

On the side of the United States, the special envoy for the peace missions, Steve Witkoff, is expected, as well as Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine nearly five years ago triggered a conflict that has been considered the most deadly in Europe since World War II (1939–1945), although the exact number of victims is unknown.

Russia had already invaded the neighbouring country in 2014, when it annexed the Ukrainian Peninsula of Crimea.

Ukraine was a republic of the Soviet Union from the founding of the Communist bloc controlled by Moscow in 1922 until its dissolution in 1991.