KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on Sunday that security guarantees for Kyiv to end Russia’s war would only be effective if the United States provides them, and he hoped to meet U.S. President-elect Donald Trump soon after his inauguration.
In an interview with U.S. podcaster Lex Fridman, Zelenskiy praised the incoming U.S president, who has vowed to rapidly end the war without explaining how, saying Ukrainians were counting on him to compel Moscow to agree to a lasting peace.
Almost three years after Russia’s invasion, the election of Trump, who returns to the White House on Jan. 20, has sparked hope of a diplomatic resolution to stop the war, but also fears in Kyiv that a quick peace could come at a high price.
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Zelenskiy used the three-hour interview published on YouTube to call for Kyiv’s NATO membership and emphasized his belief that a ceasefire without security guarantees for Kyiv would merely 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 he and the U.S. president-elect saw eye to eye on the need for a “peace through strength” approach to ending the conflict.
“Without the United States security guarantees are not possible. I mean these security guarantees that can prevent Russian aggression,” he said.
He said he needed to sit down with Trump to determine a course of action to halt Russia, and European governments also needed to have a voice in that process before Kyiv could sit down for direct talks with the Russian side.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash and Tom Balmforth; Editing by Chris Reese)
