“President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, answering journalists’ questions about expectations from the upcoming meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump, said that among the main security guarantees that Ukraine seeks are integration into NATO and the EU, significant military aid, as well as probable placement on the country’s territory military contingent of foreign countries.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: “European Truth” with reference to Zelenskyi’s words during a press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk
Details: Zelensky was answering questions about expectations from the future administration of Donald Trump. He noted that he expects the US to continue the policy of strengthening Ukraine.
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Zelenskyi said that the teams are currently working on the content and format of the upcoming meeting, which will take place after the inauguration. He did not go into details or name the date of the meeting, but said that the main expectation now is to end the war with strong security guarantees.
“We want to finish (the war) a just peace, for this we need assurance that Russia will not return with war again against Ukraine. We need strong security guarantees,” the president said.
According to him, Ukraine considers membership in the EU and future membership in NATO to be strategically strong guarantees of security today.
In addition, security guarantees should be “serious packages of weapons, and support for our army, which cannot decrease at times when you are a neighbor of Russia.”
Zelenskyi also noted that Ukraine supports the placement of contingents of certain allied countries on its territory as a potential security guarantee. But, he noted, this placement cannot be the only guarantee of security.
Zelensky said that he had already discussed this issue with the Baltic partners and would discuss it with the British leader.
Before placing a foreign contingent, sending foreign instructors with a training program to Ukraine may be an option.
In addition, the president emphasized that Ukraine will not play “message games about reducing” its army.
“Today, our army is the only guarantee of security… How to maintain a large army is also part of these agreements,” he emphasized.
What preceded:
- Earlier, in an interview with “EP”, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiga stated that Ukraine considers joining NATO as the single most effective security guarantee for itself.
- According to polls, the majority of Ukrainians want to see the country in both the European Union and NATO, but joining the defense alliance is a higher priority.