Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy celebrated Ukraine’s Independence Day by saying that his country will “not lose” its fight against Moscow amid new battlefield advances and high-stakes diplomacy around ending the more than three-year war.
“Ukraine hasn’t won yet, but it will most definitely not lose,” Zelenskyy said in a video address on August 24. “Ukraine is not a victim; it is a fighter.”
The Ukrainian president added that despite parts of the country being currently occupied by Russian forces, there is “one Ukraine” and “we shall be together again as one family.” Zelenskyy referenced fraught diplomacy with Russia amid renewed calls from US President Donald Trump to push for peace talks that could bring up an end to the war.
“[Ukraine] will never again accept the humiliation of what the Russians say is a ‘compromise,'” he said. “We need a just peace in which our future will be ours to decide.”
The speech from Zelenskyy comes as Kyiv is celebrating its 34th anniversary since the country declared independence from the Soviet Union and now finds itself navigating a new reality on and off the battlefield.
Russia said on August 23 that its forces in eastern Ukraine seized two villages in the Donetsk region and claimed to take another in the Dnipropetrovsk region on August 24. Ukraine’s military said its forces had recaptured a settlement on the western edge of the Dnipropetrovsk region on August 23.
Moscow also announced it had put out a fire at a nuclear plant in its western Kursk region after Russian air defenses claimed to have shot down a Ukrainian drone.
There has also been intense diplomacy this month around ending the war, including a high-profile summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
Despite both leaders claiming the meeting to be a success, it has not resulted in any breakthroughs or a follow-up summit involving Zelenskyy or other allied leaders.
Canada’s Carney Arrives In Kyiv
As a show of support, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney touched down in Kyiv on August 24 for his first official visit to Ukraine since being elected in April.
Carney will meet with Zelenskyy and the two leaders are expected to discuss a $1.44 billion (2 billion Canadian dollars) commitment from Canada for military aid, as well as joint opportunities for producing defense equipment.
“On this Ukrainian Independence Day, and at this critical moment in their nation’s history, Canada is stepping up our support and our efforts towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine,” Carney said in a post on X.
The issue of security guarantees for Ukraine in a potential peace settlement will also be discussed between Zelenskyy and Carney as part of a broader push by Kyiv’s allies toward setting the conditions for talks with Russia.
Zelenskyy posted a congratulatory note from Trump on his social media on August 24, where the US president praised Ukraine’s “unbreakable spirit” as the country celebrates its independence.
Since the summit in Alaska, Trump has grown publicly frustrated over the lack of a peace deal, saying he is considering either hitting Russia with further economic sanctions or walking away from peace talks.
He offered a fresh two-week deadline at the White House on August 22 for Kyiv and Moscow to move forward with a peace process or face possible US retaliation.
“I think I’ll know the attitude of Russian, and frankly Ukraine,” Trump said. “Then we’ll make a decision about what we’re going to do.”
If steps toward ending the war are not been taken by then, Trump said he could enact “massive sanctions” or “massive tariffs” or he might do nothing and “say it’s your fight.”
Uncertain Future For Peace Talks
How diplomacy will progress remains to be seen.
Zelenskyy and European governments have continued to call for a cease-fire, something Moscow has resisted.
The prospect of Ukraine conceding territory to Russia as part of a peace deal has also been called for by Moscow and also raised by Trump as a possibility.
The Ukrainian president has also accused the Kremlin of “doing everything it can” to prevent a meeting with Putin to try to end the war.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Russian leader is ready to meet Zelenskyy “when the agenda is ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all,” accusing him of saying “no to everything.”
Whether peace talks advance could also be affected by events on the battlefield.
Russia has been advancing in eastern Ukraine for months, but the rate of progress has been slow and led to high casualties.
Ukraine’s losses have been fewer, but its population is also smaller than Russia’s and its military is also dealing with manpower shortages.
