Former press secretary of the President of Ukraine Yuliya Mendel told American journalist Tucker Carlson in an interview that in 2022 Volodymyr Zelensky allegedly agreed to give Donbas to Russia to end the war; however, the Office of the President has categorically rejected this information.
The remarks by Mendel became known from the interview with Tucker Carlson, which Ukrainska Pravda drew attention to; details of the publication are at the link here.
According to the former spokeswoman, during the talks of the Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul in the spring of 2022, Kyiv was ready to accept all the conditions put forward by Russia in order to stop the hostilities.
“I was told in detail that they agreed to everything. Moreover, they said that Zelensky personally agreed to give Donbas away,” Yuliya Mendel said.
She referred to unnamed representatives of the Ukrainian side who allegedly took part in the mentioned contacts, but provided no evidence to support her words.
The Office of the President responded, emphasizing that Yuliya Mendel was not involved in either the negotiation process or in making state decisions, and therefore cannot have reliable information about the course and content of those discussions.
The Office also stated that it views the published claims critically and doubts their veracity and adequacy.
They also drew attention to Tucker Carlson, who has repeatedly been criticized for anti‑Ukrainian statements, skepticism about military support for Ukraine, and for interviewing Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Yuliya Mendel served as Volodymyr Zelensky’s press secretary from 2019—2021, that is, before the start of the full‑scale invasion.
Earlier we wrote:
- Zelensky warns of a bad feeling about peace negotiations with Russia
- “We will not leave Donbas”, – Zelensky outlined a red line and readiness for an “all‑for‑all” exchange
- Zelensky named possible timelines for the end of the war
- No choice, no peace: Zelensky revealed 20 points of a plan with a referendum
- A Korean scenario for Ukraine? The West pressures, Zelensky resists — what is being prepared for us
