KYIV, May 21 – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy may resort to a referendum if his peace plan with Russia faces opposition from political groups, Andriy Bohdan, his newly appointed chief of staff, said Tuesday.

Zelenskiy, who was sworn in on Monday after an overwhelming election victory last month, has not yet announced his peace plan, but said that Ukraine would not surrender its territory or people.

This led to speculations on how far Zelenskiy is prepared to go in accommodating Russia’s idea on granting sweeping political powers to Donetsk and Luhansk, which has not been widely supported in Ukraine.

"The ultimate solution, if it is ambiguously perceived by society, if there are points that are problematic for perceptions of one or another, may be put to the referendum,” Bohdan said in an interview with 112 television on Tuesday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to discuss the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia have held four-way talks in a bid to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed separatists that has killed 13,000 people since 2014.

The referendum is apparently seen by Zelenskiy as a way of eliminating political tensions and opposition to the peace plan.

“So that not a certain politician makes a decision that splits a society, but that the people themselves, society itself makes such a decision on whether these or other arrangements are appropriate,” Bohdan said.

The comments suggest that Zelenskiy’s future peace plan may have politically sensitive issues that may require a broader political agreement.

"We are forced to seek compromises,” Bohdan said, adding that “We do not trade our territories and our people.”

"There is a very good rule that exists in diplomats, do not fix their red lines before going to negotiations," Bohdan said. (tl/ez)