 "Ukraine security guarantees deal ‘100% ready’, Zelenskyy says as talks with US, Russia continue")
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that a document outlining US security guarantees for Ukraine is “100% ready” following two days of talks involving officials from Ukraine, the United States and Russia.
Speaking to reporters in Vilnius during his visit to Lithuania, Zelenskyy said Kyiv is waiting for its partners to decide on a date to sign the document. Once signed, it would be sent to both the US Congress and Ukraine’s parliament for ratification.
Zelenskyy also reiterated Ukraine’s ambition to join the European Union by 2027, describing EU membership as an “economic security guarantee” for the country.
The Ukrainian leader said the discussions held in Abu Dhabi were notable for being among the first trilateral talks in “quite a long while” to include not only diplomats but also military representatives from all three countries. The talks, which began on Friday and continued into Saturday, were part of ongoing efforts to bring an end to Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy acknowledged that major disagreements remain between Kyiv and Moscow, with territorial issues continuing to pose a significant obstacle.
”For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees of security from the United States. The document is 100% ready, and we are waiting for our partners to confirm the date and place when we will sign it,” he said.
”The document will then be sent for ratification to the U.S. Congress and the Ukrainian parliament,” he said.
On Friday and Saturday, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators held their first trilateral meeting including U.S. mediators in Abu Dhabi to discuss Washington’s framework for ending the almost four-year-old war, but no deal emerged.
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View AllHowever, Moscow and Kyiv both said they were open to further dialogue and more discussions were expected next Sunday in Abu Dhabi, a U.S. official told reporters immediately after the weekend talks.
”(In Abu Dhabi) the 20-point (U.S.) plan and problematic issues are being discussed. There were many problematic issues, but now there are fewer,” Zelenskyy said.
He said Moscow wants to do everything possible to get Ukraine to abandon eastern regions Moscow has been unable to capture since its full-scale invasion that triggered the war. But Kyiv, he said, had not budged from its position that Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be upheld.
”These are two fundamentally different positions – Ukraine’s and Russia’s. The Americans are trying to find a compromise,” Zelenskyy said, adding that all sides must be prepared to compromise, including the Americans.
With inputs from agencies
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