Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed hope for United States-brokered peace talks with Russia next week, but warned that Kyiv was being asked “too often” to make concessions and pressed his allies for “clear security guarantees”, reports AL Jazeera.
Zelenskyy’s speech at the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday came as US President Donald Trump seeks to broker a deal to end Europe’s biggest war since 1945.
Ukraine and Russia, which invaded its neighbour in February 2022, have engaged in two recent rounds of talks mediated by Washington in Abu Dhabi, UAE, described by the parties as constructive but achieving no breakthroughs.
The three sides are due to sit down in Geneva, Switzerland, again this week.
In his speech, Zelenskyy said he hoped the trilateral talks in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday “will be serious, substantive” and “helpful for all of us”.
“But honestly, sometimes it feels like the sides are talking about completely different things,” Zelenskyy said.
“The Americans often return to the topic of concessions, and too often those concessions are discussed only in the context of Ukraine, not Russia,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader also argued that there would be a greater chance of ending the war if European countries had a seat at the negotiating table, something Moscow has opposed.
“Europe is practically not present at the table. It’s a big mistake to my mind,” he said. And Ukraine, he said, “keeps returning to one simple point”.
“Peace can only be built on clear security guarantees. Where there is no clear security system, war always returns,” Zelenskyy said.
Among the most contentious issues in the negotiations is Russia’s demand for a full withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the remaining parts of Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk that it still controls. Ukraine has rejected a unilateral pullback, while also demanding Western security guarantees to deter Russia from relaunching its invasion if a ceasefire is reached.
Bd-pratidin English/TR
