Zelenskyy "I have no power to take back Donbas and Crimea...No negotiations excluding Ukra."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has acknowledged that in reality, restoration of the Donbas and Crimea is difficult.

President Zelensky told French daily Le Parisien that he could not give up his territory, but that the Donbas and Crimea were in fact under Russian control and had no power to take back the region.

He added that he had no choice but to rely on diplomatic pressure from the international community to get Russian President Putin to sit at the negotiating table.

Asked if he could face Putin directly at the negotiating table, he said: "It's not about who you're sitting face to face, it's about where you're in negotiating."

Mr. Zelensky also stressed that no world leader has the right to negotiate with Mr. Putin, excluding Ukraine.

He also said negotiating with Russia under the current conditions would be like giving Putin the power to determine terms across the region and that a detailed strategy was needed before negotiations.