The Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has acknowledged that Ukraine may be forced to consider territorial concessions as part of a potential peace agreement with Russia, though he emphasized such a move would be temporary and far from ideal.

Speaking to the BBC, Klitschko admitted that one possible scenario for ending the ongoing conflict might involve Ukraine relinquishing some territory. “One of the scenarios is… to give up territory. It's not fair. But for the peace, temporary peace, maybe it can be a solution, temporary,” he said. Despite this, he underlined that the Ukrainian people would “never accept occupation” by Russia.

Klitschko’s comments come amidst renewed pressure from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who has called on Ukraine to consider territorial compromises to hasten peace. The Kyiv mayor’s remarks make him one of the highest-ranking Ukrainian officials to publicly suggest that giving up land, even temporarily, might be necessary.

His interview followed a devastating Russian missile and drone assault on the Ukrainian capital, which killed 12 civilians and injured over 80 more. It marked one of the deadliest attacks on Kyiv in months and further highlighted the continuing human cost of the war, now in its third year.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and currently controls roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory, including large parts of eastern Ukraine and Crimea, which was annexed in 2014.

Klitschko, a former heavyweight boxing champion, said he was focused on his responsibilities as mayor of Kyiv, describing the capital as “the heart” of Ukraine. He acknowledged that President Volodymyr Zelensky might eventually face a “painful solution” to end the war, but said he had not been consulted on any negotiations. “President Zelensky does [it] himself. It’s not my function,” he added.

The mayor and the president are known political rivals. Klitschko has previously accused Zelensky and his administration of undermining his authority and attempting to centralize control. When asked about the tension between Ukrainian and U.S. leadership, Klitschko pointed to a recent dispute between Zelensky and Trump, suggesting that high-level discussions would be better handled privately: “Some issues should be discussed without video cameras.”

Earlier this week, Trump criticized Zelensky for rejecting the idea of ceding Crimea to Russia, stating that the peninsula was “lost years ago” and should not be a topic of negotiation. Zelensky, however, referenced the 2018 “Crimea Declaration” by Trump’s then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which asserted that the U.S. rejected Russia’s annexation of the region.

In recent weeks, Ukrainian officials and their European allies have voiced growing concern over Trump’s seemingly conciliatory tone toward Russian President Vladimir Putin. With the conflict grinding on and political pressure mounting from international partners, the debate over potential peace terms—including the controversial notion of territorial compromise—continues to gain urgency.