Why Ukraine cannot give up the territories occupied by Russia

Statements that follow a simple logic cannot help but cause serious concern: “Ukraine needs to give up the occupied territories for the sake of peace.” Can such a decision lead to peace?

Such calls often ignore not only legal norms but also strategic and humanitarian realities. They are based on the false idea that sustainable peace can be achieved through unilateral concessions to the aggressor state. Instead, historical experience demonstrates that concessions to the aggressor only increase its appetite.

Recent statements by Donald Trump's Special Representative Steve Witkoff and US Congresswoman of Ukrainian descent Victoria Spartz are an example of a dangerous tendency to shift the burden of conflict resolution to the victim of aggression.

These messages legitimize the aggressor, level its responsibility, and create a false paradigm: that Ukraine should “appease” Russia. This is not only morally unacceptable, but also strategically dangerous. This approach also contradicts the policy of deterrence that has underpinned the Western security architecture since the Cold War.

The use of force to annex territories is prohibited by the UN Charter (Article 2, paragraph 4), the Geneva Conventions, and numerous UN General Assembly resolutions, including A/RES/68/262 on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Russia, by signing the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, committed itself not to violate Ukraine's borders. Violation of these commitments undermines the credibility of the entire system of international guarantees.

At the level of national legislation, the Constitution of Ukraine (Articles 2, 17, 73) prohibits any alienation of territory without an all-Ukrainian referendum. No political force or president has the legal authority to cede territory without the consent of the people. In addition, according to the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine No. 6-rp/2005, any agreements that provide for the change of territory without a referendum are unconstitutional.

In the temporarily occupied territories, Russia is implementing a policy of forced Russification. According to Putin's decree of April 2023, Ukrainian citizens who do not obtain Russian citizenship are subject to deportation or confiscation of property. This is a gross violation of the IV Geneva Convention (Article 49) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

In addition, Ukrainian cultural heritage, such as schools, museums, and churches, is being destroyed. Compulsory education with Russian textbooks is being introduced, school curricula are being rewritten, and the Ukrainian language is being banned. This is part of an information war aimed at destroying the Ukrainian identity.

Ukraine's relinquishment of territories will set a dangerous precedent for revising borders by force. This will have the following consequences:

• Increased aggressive appetite of the Russian Federation towards Moldova, the Baltic States, and Kazakhstan,
• imbalance of NATO as a defense alliance,
• destruction of international confidence in security guarantees, which will increase instability both in the Middle East (Iran) and in East Asia (North Korea).

In geopolitical terms, this would mean a return to the paradigm of “spheres of influence,” which is destructive to the postwar international system based on the equality and sovereignty of states. The universal principles of international law cannot be revised in the interests of a state that uses military force as an instrument of foreign policy.

The occupied territories have not only symbolic but also key economic value:

• control over seaports (Mariupol, Berdiansk),
• part of large mineral deposits (iron ore, uranium, gas),
• access to energy hubs (Zaporizhzhia NPP).

In addition, Russia is actively integrating the occupied territories into its own economic space, trying to break their connection with the rest of Ukraine. This not only complicates reintegration, but also creates preconditions for a protracted conflict.

Russia's large-scale propaganda campaign is aimed at legitimizing the annexation. Through controlled media, the idea of the “will of the people” and “referendums” that are legally null and void is being created. The propaganda is accompanied by disinformation, spreading fakes, and manipulations of the position of the West and the Ukrainian army.

Recognizing the loss of territories would mean accepting the version of events imposed by the Kremlin. This would not only demoralize Ukrainian society, but also undermine international solidarity with the victims of aggression.

Ukraine cannot give up the occupied territories not only for moral or patriotic reasons, but also for complex legal, humanitarian, geopolitical, economic, and psychological and informational reasons. Statements suggesting that Ukraine capitulate for the sake of illusory peace ignore reality: Russia will not stop. Giving up part of its territory would mean giving up the principles of international order, the protection of people, and hope for justice in the world.

Concessions today mean war tomorrow. And not only for Ukraine. This is a global issue, where not only territory is at stake, but the very idea of international law and order.

Petro Oleshchuk, Political scientist, Ph.D, Expert at the United Ukraine Think Tank