Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has told the BBC that Ukraine may be forced to concede some of its territory as part of a peace agreement with Russia, as pressure intensifies from U.S. President Donald Trump for Ukraine to accept such compromises. “One of the scenarios is… to give up territory. It’s not fair. But for the peace, temporary peace, maybe it can be a solution, temporary,” Klitschko stated in an interview with the BBC. Despite this possibility, the 53-year-old former heavyweight boxing champion—now a prominent politician, was adamant that Ukrainians would “never accept occupation”

Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has told the BBC that Ukraine may be forced to concede some of its territory as part of a peace agreement with Russia, as pressure intensifies from U.S. President Donald Trump for Ukraine to accept such compromises. “One of the scenarios is… to give up territory. It’s not fair. But for the peace, temporary peace, maybe it can be a solution, temporary,” Klitschko stated in an interview with the BBC. Despite this possibility, the 53-year-old former heavyweight boxing champion—now a prominent politician, was adamant that Ukrainians would “never accept occupation” by Russian forces. His remarks came just hours after one of the deadliest Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv in recent months. The assault left 12 people dead and more than 80 injured. Since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022, Russia has seized roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory. While many Ukrainian officials have strongly resisted the idea of making territorial concessions, Klitschko is now among the most senior figures to publicly acknowledge that it could become a temporary necessity. Klitschko, who has long been at odds politically with President Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused the president and his circle of attempting to weaken his authority in the capital. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme from his office in central Kyiv, the mayor described the capital as “the heart” of the embattled nation and emphasized his duty to protect it. He acknowledged that President Zelensky may eventually have to pursue a “painful solution” to end the war. When asked whether Zelensky had consulted him on any peace plan details, Klitschko gave a direct answer: “No.” “President Zelensky does [it] himself. It’s not my function,” he clarified. Referring to the high-profile confrontation between Zelensky and Trump at the White House in February, Klitschko noted that such matters would be better handled out of the public eye. “Key issues between top politicians should be discussed without video cameras,” he suggested. Earlier this week, Trump sharply criticized Zelensky for allegedly obstructing peace talks. The former president took issue with Zelensky’s firm stance on Crimea, which Ukraine lost to Russian annexation in 2014. Trump claimed that Crimea “was lost years ago” and insisted it was “not even a point of discussion.” In response, Zelensky pointed to a 2018 statement by Trump’s then–Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, known as the “Crimea declaration,” in which the U.S. government explicitly rejected Russia’s annexation attempt. Amid escalating discussions about a possible settlement, European allies have voiced concerns about what they perceive as Trump’s increasingly friendly posture toward Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. Meanwhile, Russia’s military assaults on Ukraine have continued unabated. The same day Klitschko spoke to the BBC, another deadly strike hit Kyiv. Twelve civilians were killed, and dozens more wounded. BBC journalists at the scene witnessed the heartbreaking recovery of a child’s body from the ruins of a home, while grieving residents mourned in silence nearby. Svitlana, a local teacher whose nearby school was also damaged, expressed deep skepticism about any solution involving the ceding of Crimea. “Those who think that Putin will stop if he is given Crimea, they don’t know who the Russians are. He is not going to stop,” she warned. She affirmed her support for the Ukrainian president, saying, “Zelensky expresses the opinion of all of us, and we support him.” Another resident, Olha, had helped rescuers pull ten people from the debris; five of them dead, the others injured. Her outlook was far less optimistic. “As of now I think it’s better to be away from here because nothing good awaits us here,” she said, adding, “There will not be a good solution” for Ukraine. She also voiced frustration with Zelensky’s background, remarking, “He was a comedian, and he should have stayed a comedian.”

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