Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Friday, February 14, 2025.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday called for the creation of a European army to increase the continent’s protection while warning that Russia was not “preparing for dialogue” to advance possible peace talks.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv had intelligence that Russia plans to send troops to its ally Belarus this summer under the pretense of training exercises, calling it a new “Russian province” that poses a direct threat to NATO countries.
“We have to build Europe’s Armed Forces, so that Europe’s future can only depend on Europeans and decisions for Europe to make in Europe,” Zelenskyy told the Munich Security Conference in Germany, in a node to look Apparently US support for the region’s security.
“Europe should get enough, joined by the usual strengths,” he continued. “Let’s be honest now, we can’t rule out the possibility that America says no to Europe on issues that threaten it.”
The Ukrainian President met with US Vice President JD Vance on Friday to discuss increasing hopes of a peace agreement Russia-Ukraine, but noted that his country wanted “security guarantees” before making talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin can start.
“This is not a country that wants peace,” Zelenskyy told Russia. “Not preparing for dialogue.”
Zelenskyy said on Saturday that such security guarantees cannot come reliably from Moscow, but on the contrary they should come from Western allies, mostly sh.ba
“We cannot agree on a truce without real security guarantees,” he said. “Putin cannot provide true security guarantees – not only because he is a liar, but because Russia, in its current state, needs struggle to keep power together.” CNBC has contacted the Kremlin for a comment on zelenskyy remarks.
Zelenskyy on Friday told NBC News that it would be “very, very, very difficult” for Ukraine to survive without US military support, both now and in the event of a possible Russian occupation.
He also told the conference earlier during the day that Ukraine would have to double the size of her army if she was not able to join NATO.
US Vice President JD Vance (R), State Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd R) and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) meet on the margins of the 61st conference of Munich (MSC) in Munich, Southern Germany on 14 February 2025.
Tobias Schwarz | AFP | Getty Images
Zelenskyy reiterated Saturday that he was not yet prepared to withdraw to NATO membership for Ukraine.
“I will also not receive NATO membership for Ukraine off the table. But now, NATO’s most influential member seems to be Putin because his whims have the power to block NATO decisions,” he said .
However, he also showed the possible creation of a new NATO within Ukraine. Such military defense, he said, would lead the eastern borders of Ukraine, Belarus, Finland and the Baltic states.
“My proposal – the eastern border of Ukraine, Belarus east border, the eastern borders of the Baltic states, the eastern border of Finland – this is the strongest security line for all of us in Europe, because this is the line of international law,” He said.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that US troops will not settle in Ukraine to act as an obstacle to further Russian aggression. He has suggested, on the contrary, that Washington and Kyiv would hit an economic pact, focusing on the widespread supply of the latter’s critical minerals, to provide the place embedded with a war of security after the war.
American-Russian meeting without Ukraine would be ‘dangerous’
Global defense and security officials have gathered in Munich, Germany for the three-day annual conference, where the future of Ukraine, peace talks with Russia and the reshaping of Europe’s security and defense architecture are in the forefront of discussions.
The prospects for a peace deal returned this week after President Trump kept phone calls shared with Putin and, later, Zelenskyy. After initially showing that a bilateral deal could be hit between Washington and Moscow, Trump later said Zelenskyy of Ukraine would be involved, along with “many other people”.
Zelenskyy warned on Saturday that a meeting between US and Russian presidents without Ukraine’s involvement would be “dangerous”.
US officials, however, have poured cold water on some of Zelenskyy’s difficult lines for an agreement, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday saying that both NATO membership and the restoration of Ukrainian borders before 2014 were unrealistic results.