 "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Reuters file")
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday said that there can be no decision on the Russia-Ukraine war without the participation of Kyiv and Europe as the US tries to push for talks with Moscow.
“No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, no decisions about Europe without Europe. Europe must have a seat at the table,” Zelenskyy said during the Munich Security Conference.
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Russia, Ukraine and the US would meet on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference to discuss ways to end the war.
“Russia is going to be there with our people. Ukraine is also invited, by the way, not sure exactly who’s going to be there from any country - but high-level people from Russia, from Ukraine and the United States,” POTUS said.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy urged Europe to “act for your own sake” as questions hang over US backing in the face of the threat from Russia.
“Europe just needs to come together and start acting in a way that no one can say no to Europe, boss it around, or treat it like a pushover,” he added.
Earlier this month, the US president talked with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the phone where he said that the latter “wants to see people stop dying”. After their supposed phone call, POTUS expressed optimism over the end of the war and said that the US was making progress with Moscow.
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More ShortsZelenskyy meets Vance
The Ukrainian president met US Vice President JD Vance on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
During their meeting, Zelenskyy sought “security guarantees” from Vance for continued US support. Speaking with reporters in Munich, Zelensky stressed the need to “speak more” with the White House before any endgame to the war is formulated.
“We want peace very much but we need real security guarantees,” he said after his first meeting with Vance.
Vance meanwhile described “good conversations” with Zelensky, and acknowledged the administration’s goal of bringing the war to a close.
“We want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that’s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road,” Vance said as the meeting wrapped up.
With inputs from agencies