Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko told the BBC that Ukraine may have to give up land as part of a peace deal with Russia amid mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to accept territorial concessions.

"One scenario is to give up territory. This is not fair. But for peace, temporary peace, maybe this can be a solution, temporary," Klitschko said.

But the 53-year-old former world boxing champion turned politician stressed that the Ukrainian people "will never accept occupation" by Russia.

He spoke hours after the Russian missile and drone attack on Kiev that killed 12 people and wounded more than 80.

It was one of the deadliest Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital in months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. 

Klitschko noted that he was "responsible for the capital of Ukraine", describing it as the "heart" of the war-torn country.

He said President Volodymyr Zelensky may be forced to make a "painful decision" to achieve peace.

The Kiev mayor is now one of the most senior Ukrainian politicians to publicly indicate that his country may have to give up territory, albeit temporarily.

Asked if Zelensky had discussed any details of a possible agreement with him, Klitschko replied bluntly, "No."

"President Zelensky is doing it on his own. That is not my function," he added.

Klitschko and Zelensky are political opponents. The mayor has repeatedly accused the president and his team of trying to undermine his authority.

Referring to the very public spat between Zelensky and Trump at the White House in February, the mayor suggested that key issues between senior politicians would be better discussed "without video cameras." 

Earlier this week, Trump accused his Ukrainian counterpart of obstructing peace talks after Zelensky again refused to recognize Russian control over Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Trump said Crimea "was lost years ago" and is now "not even up for discussion."

But Zelensky pointed to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's 2018 "declaration on Crimea," which said the U.S. "rejects Russia's attempted annexation."

In recent weeks, Ukraine and its European allies have expressed alarm at what many on the continent see as Trump's warming of relations with Vladimir Putin's Russia. | BGNES