Putin told U.S. he’d capture Ukraine’s Donbas by year’s end — Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with ABC News that since the start of the full-scale war, Russia has captured about 30% of Donetsk region.

“He told the Americans, the White House, and President Trump’s representative Witkoff that he would take Donbas in two, three, at most four months — by the end of the year at the latest. He will not take it. The price is years and a million people. And if not years but sooner, then more people: not a million, but 2 million, 3 million corpses. That is the price,” Zelenskyy said.

He also dismissed reports that Russia had conquered 70% of Donbas in three years as manipulative.

"After the first occupation 10, 11 now, years ago, when he seized Crimea without a fight and a third of the Donbas. He seized it then. After the start of the full-scale war, they captured about 30% of the Donetsk region, not the entire Donbas. And we now fully control 30%, 32% to be precise. That is, a third was taken 10 years ago," Zelenskyy explained.

The president stressed that since the beginning of February 2022, Russia has captured 30% of Donbas.

“That's a lot, yes, but he [Putin - ed.] lost a million people,” he added.