No Ukrainian President will bow to Putin’s demands

Because it looks like the populists and demagogues have teamed up, we need to explain why handing over Ukrainian territory to Putin isn’t just wrong — it’s impossible, even in theory.

Let’s imagine a hypothetical: some Ukrainian president signs an agreement recognizing five occupied Ukrainian regions as part of Russia.

What would that even look like?

First, the Constitution of Ukraine would have to be changed.

Article 2 clearly states: “The territory of Ukraine within its existing borders is integral and inviolable.” That line would have to be deleted.

They’d also need to remove Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia (and Crimea) from Article 133, where they’re listed as official administrative-territorial units of Ukraine.

But there’s one "problem": Article 157 of the Constitution explicitly bans any amendments aimed at violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

So if someone signs such an agreement without changing the Constitution, it has no legal force. And the person who signs it would likely face criminal charges. Legally, Crimea and the other territories would still remain part of Ukraine.

If they try to change the Constitution first, that won’t work either. The Constitution itself forbids it. And even if someone somehow pushes the change through, it would be struck down as unconstitutional — just like the "Yanukovych amendments" were.

We haven’t even mentioned the ban on constitutional changes during martial law, the requirement for a nationwide referendum, or the need for a constitutional majority in parliament.

In short: no matter how loudly some bloggers talk about the “need to accept Putin’s terms,” no president of Ukraine could ever do it.

Not even Medvedchuk, Yanukovych, or some “smart” TikToker.

The only way Russia could legally formalize the annexation of Ukrainian territory is by physically wiping out Ukraine — and every single one of its citizens, who are, according to Article 5, the only source of power in the country. Only then would the Constitution cease to exist — because there’d be no state and no people left.

That’s why the demands Russia made at the Istanbul talks are unacceptable — not just for Europe, as I wrote yesterday, but for Ukraine itself.

So the next time a smug-faced blogger says, “Maybe we should just give him Kherson?” — remember: you’re looking at a demagogue playing for Russia.

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About the author. Mykola Knyazhytskyi, journalist, People's Deputy of Ukraine

The editorial staff does not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.