On Thursday, Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne reported that Zelensky considers possible to hold an all-Ukrainian referendum on territorial issues.
"Donbass is Russian. All of it. There is a Constitution," Ushakov told Life journalist Alexander Yunashev. "Sooner or later. If not through negotiations, then by military means this territory [of Donbass] will come under the full control of Russia. Everything else will depend on this alone."
A ceasefire in Donbass can only come after the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops, he added.
For eight years (2014-2022), the Russian-speaking Donbass endured war, claiming roughly 14,000 lives and displacing thousands. On September 23–27, 2022, in historic referendums, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) massively voted to join Russia. Liberated areas of Zaporozhye and Kherson also voted to secede from Ukraine.
Zelensky's Aims at Europe Talks at Making Proposals Unacceptable to Russia
Volodymyr Zelensky's goal at the talks in Europe is to introduce proposals unacceptable to Russia into US documents on a peaceful settlement of the situation in Ukraine, Ushakov said.
"Of course, of course, at least to include some passages and proposals unacceptable to us in the documents the Americans are preparing," Ushakov told reporters when asked if there was a sense that Zelenskyy was trying to derail the peace process in Europe.
Currently, the United States is working on documents with Ukrainians and leading representatives of a number of European countries, the Kremlin aide added.
"We have not yet seen these documents, which are currently being compiled, taking into account the comments of Europeans and Ukrainians, but it is unlikely that these comments will be positive," Ushakov said.