Zelensky says war will only end with US security guarantees

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said security guarantees for Kiev to end Russia’s war would only be effective if the United States provided them. He also said he hopes to meet US President-elect Donald Trump shortly after his inauguration.

In an interview with American podcaster Lex Fridman published on Sunday (5), Zelensky said that Ukrainians were counting on Trump to force Moscow to end its war and that Russia would increase tension in Europe if Washington abandoned the UN military alliance. North Atlantic Treaty (NATO).

Nearly three years after Russia’s invasion, the election of Trump, who returns to the White House on January 20, has raised hopes of a diplomatic resolution to stop the war, but also fears in Kiev that a quick peace could come at a high price. .

Zelensky used the three-hour interview posted on YouTube to call for Ukraine’s membership in NATO, emphasizing his belief that a ceasefire without security guarantees for Kiev would only give Russia time to rearm for a new attack.

The Ukrainian leader said the White House under Trump had a vital role to play in providing security guarantees and asserted that he and the US president-elect agreed on the need for a “peace through strength” approach. to end the conflict.

“Without the United States, security guarantees are not possible. I mean, those security guarantees that can deter Russian aggression,” he said, tacitly acknowledging that Kiev’s European allies would be too weak militarily to fend for themselves.

Zelensky argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not interested in serious negotiations to end the war, and that the Kremlin leader would have to be compelled to stop and agree to a lasting peace.

The battlefield situation is at its most challenging level for Ukraine since the first months of the Russian invasion in 2022, and Kiev’s heavily outnumbered troops have been losing village after village in the eastern Donbas for months.

While he said it was up to the United States to determine its future, Zelensky warned that any decision by Washington under Trump to leave NATO would weaken the military alliance and embolden Putin in Europe.

“I’m simply saying that if that happens (exiting the alliance), Putin will destroy Europe,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader said he needed to sit down with Trump to determine a course of action to stop the Kremlin and that European governments also needed to have a voice in that process before Kiev could sit down to talk with the Russian side.

Visit to Ukraine

Trump, the Ukrainian leader added, indicated when they spoke late last year that there would be an official Ukrainian visit to the United States shortly after he took office.

“He told me on the phone that my visit would be one of his first. This topic is important to him. I hope we meet,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader also said he would attend Trump’s inauguration on January 20 if he received an official invitation.

The interview was published the night after the launch, on Sunday (5), of a new offensive by Ukrainian troops in the Russian region of Kursk, where they conquered an enclave in a surprise incursion last August.

Ukraine has said for months that Russia has sent thousands of North Korean troops to the Kursk region to help its forces there.

Zelensky estimated that 3,800 North Korean soldiers had been killed or injured in the fighting so far, but believed Pyongyang had the capacity to send many thousands more troops if it so desired.

He also said North Korea has provided 3.7 million artillery shells to Russia so far, a figure he contrasted with the 1 million provided by the European Union last year. Reuters was unable to independently verify these figures.

This content was originally published in Zelensky says war will only end with US security guarantees on the CNN Brasil website.

Source: CNN Brasil