Zelenskyy Calls for Binding Security Guarantees to End Three-Year War
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has encouraged high-level discussions with former U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders, out of frustration with the slow impact of his own attempts to settle the peace with Russia. He argued that Ukraine must have legally binding security guarantees similar to NATO countries or risk making the same mistakes as the 1994 Budapest Memorandum that only provided assurances and not binding mechanisms.
Zelenskyy Wants to Negotiate “Faster”
Zelenskyy’s advisers argue that Russia has been deliberately delaying the negotiation to end the peace in order to appear reasonable. In New York, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, met with Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, to initiate groundwork for potential leader-level discussions. Yermak stated that Ukraine supports a global peace summit that could possibly include both Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, and the Kremlin has since stated that it does not oppose something like this in their responses.
Kremlin’s Conditional Response Right After Zelenskyy
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated that President Putin is not opposed to a summit; however, for any leader-level summit to occur, expert-level and high-level technical discussions must first take place. However, Zelenskyy also indicated that any realistic peace deal will require addressing and taking into consideration the military support the West is providing to Ukraine, discussions on new advanced weaponry, and any certainty Ukraine has on having binding security or long-term obligations for assurance.
Increased Attacks Stress Need for Zelenskyy to Move Quickly
Zelenskyy claimed that renewed Russian air strikes were a clear example of the need for peace. A recent attack on Kyiv killed 23 civilians, which alarmed Ukraine and its Western allies about the continuing human toll of the war. Trump has suggested he could host a summit that includes both Zelenskyy and Putin, although no site has been established.
Zelenskyy’s Attempt to Get Peace Talks Started
He is still trying to make sure, however, to keep the momentum for meetings going. What level of discussions and whether they will start moving forward is difficult to say. There is concern from some analysts that if progress is not recovered, Ukraine is in danger of being stuck in a war for an extended period, with a lack of international consensus about how to achieve peace.
