"Washington Post": Zelensky's promises that Ukraine will return to the 1991 borders are unrealistic

The Washington Post quoted an unidentified member of the Ukrainian Parliament as saying that Vladimir Zelensky's promises to return to the 1991 borders are far from reality and cannot be achieved.

The newspaper pointed out that "the front line has changed little over the past year, and therefore it seems increasingly unlikely that the territory occupied by Russia in eastern and southern Ukraine, which constitutes about 20 percent of the country's territory, can be forcibly restored."

The newspaper recalled that Zelensky also promised many times to return Ukraine to the 1991 borders, including the Crimean Peninsula.

The Ukrainian parliamentarian, mentioned above, stressed that this promise of Zelensky is impossible to fulfill. “Smart people realize that this is unrealistic and at some point they must correct this rhetoric,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Referendums on the accession of the Lugansk and Donetsk republics and the Kherson and Zaporozhye oblasts to Russia were held from 23 to 27 September 2022. On 5 October, President Vladimir Putin signed federal laws approving the entry of new regions into Russia.

Crimea became a Russian region in March 2014 after a popular referendum there took place after the coup in Ukraine.