Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated in an interview broadcast on Monday that the US was attempting to “please” Moscow in Ukraine talks and warned of Europe’s military “weakness.”
Zelensky responded to US officials’ conciliatory remarks towards Russia by saying, “The US is now saying things that are very favourable to Putin… because they want to please him.”
“They want a quick meeting and a swift win. But what they ‘want—’ simply a truce’—is not a win,” Zelensky said in an interview with broadcaster ARD on Saturday in Munich.
Last week, US President Donald Trump surprised allies by stating that he had a direct chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin about a procedure to quickly end the war in Ukraine.
US Defence Chief Pete Hegseth also seems to rule out Ukraine joining NATO or reclaiming territory lost since 2014.
Regarding the terms of any future agreement, Zelensky stated that “we will not sign just anything to be applauded” and that “the fate of our state for generations to come” was at stake.
He refused to cede Ukrainian territory that Russia had gained, stating, “We will reclaim it all.”
As European leaders held crisis discussions in Paris on how to proceed, ARD aired the interview Zelensky filmed during the three-day Munich Security Conference, which ended Sunday.
The Ukrainian president cautioned that Europe would be in a vulnerable situation if it could no longer rely on the US security umbrella.
Even though “readiness has increased” over the last several decades, “in terms of troop strength, the number of combat troops, the fleet, the air force, the drones… I honestly think that Europe is weak today,” he said.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine has become more resilient in the last three years, and “Putin would not be able to occupy us the way he wanted to.”
Nonetheless, he emphasised that “there will not be a Ukrainian victory without US support.”
Zelensky stated that he and Trump had discussed deploying foreign troops to police a future ceasefire.
“I told him the Americans should be a part of this because otherwise we might lose our unity,” he said.
Last week, during a conference of Kyiv’s supporters in Brussels, Hegseth firmly dismissed the notion of a US force deployment to Ukraine.
When asked if he would give up the presidency to reach an accord, Zelensky replied, “For peace, I am willing to do anything.
“If tomorrow Ukraine were accepted into the EU and NATO, if Russian troops were to withdraw and we got security guarantees, I wouldn’t be needed anymore,” claimed the Ukrainian president.
