In his interview to the state Russian-language TV channel ‘Dom’, Zelensky discarded the claims that ‘someone is going to drive others out’.

‘Those who now live in the occupied Donbas and Crimea must understand it is not that someone is going to drive others out. I want to make it clear. Is Ukraine your homeland or you are a guest here? I believe that if you live in the temporarily occupied territory of Donbas and ‘you stand for Russia’ – it is a big mistake to stay and live in Donbas’, the president explained.

Zelensky stated that Donbas ‘will never be a Russian territory’, no matter how long it is occupied by the aggressor.

‘It is like Berlin wall. People and history will take the moment and the wall will fall’, said the President.

Therefore, according to Zelensky, the residents of the occupied territories should now decide where they want to live in the future.

He restated his argument that ‘without Ukraine there will be no civilization in this territory. Ukraine will develop and grow, but the occupied Donbas will not. People will not be happy there.’

The President promised the territories would be reclaimed by Ukraine one day.

The interview was given in the Russian language, which is the direct violation of the Constitution.

The full version of the interview will be broadcast on TV tonight.