“He must do more than just put an end to the war”. He must take action to prevent Putin from waging war against us in the future”, Zelenskyy said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in an interview that US President Donald Trump’s plan for a speedy settlement in Ukraine must not only end the war but also guarantee that future Russian aggression cannot occur.
Zelenskyy declared on Sunday that Ukraine did not want to repeat the history of peace agreements and negotiations that ended in failure in the years preceding Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. And it required establishing security guarantees, he continued.
“A quarrel that remains frozen will inevitably result in increased aggressiveness. Who will then be crowned the winner and get prizes? Nobody. Everyone will lose badly, including Trump and us, which is crucial”, Zelenskyy told Britain’s ITV.
“He must do more than just put an end to the war. He must take action to prevent Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia, from waging war against us in the future. Everyone should understand that this is the most important thing. “It would be a win”, Zelenskyy declared.
Zelenskyy reiterated that he was open to negotiations with Russia to resolve the conflict as long as Ukraine’s Western allies, the US and the EU, were involved.
“If I had an understanding that America and Europe will not abandon us and they will support us and provide security guarantees, I would be ready for any format for talks”, he stated.
“The ‘hot phase’ of the war can be said to be over if security assurance are in place. You have to realize that we need to know exactly how this war will finish that we are all in agreement with Europe and America”.
Putin does not want to stop the war, according to the Ukrainian president, and “it is impossible to approach him through . . . half steps”.
“We need security guarantees, understandings so that whatever he may want or if whoever comes after him wants to kill Ukrainian or seize our land . . . they will get such a response”.
No election
Zelenskyy reiterated in his remarks to ITV that elections in Ukraine should not be held until the fighting has stopped because doing so would put the nation in danger by lifting important aspects of martial law.
Putin claims that because Zelenskyy has stayed in office past his term, he lacks credibility in any negotiations.
“We would have to suspend martial law, and if we suspend martial law, we lose the army”, he stated. “And the Russians would be pleased, in theory. There would be a loss of military capability, morale, and other things.
Last week, Zelenskyy told Reuters that he wants Ukraine to provide the US with minerals, including rare earths, in exchange for funding its war effort.
Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, he also had conversations with Ukrainian leaders.
Trump stated on Friday that he would likely meet with Zelenskyy to talk about stopping the war the following week.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated he could neither confirm nor reject the New York Post’s allegation that Trump had discussed stopping the conflict with Putin over the phone.