Unlock the White House View Newspaper FREE
Your guide to what the 2024 American elections mean for Washington and the world
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has refused calls for Ukraine to agree with an immediate ceasefire in her fight with Russia, saying it would be “failure for all” if an interruption of hostilities was not accompanied by detailed security guarantees.
Ukraine’s unclear president said he did not need to make changes to an explosive line with Donald Trump at the White House on Friday or with a plan to save his relationship with the US president, though he repeated his gratitude to the American people.
“This relationship will continue because this is more than a relationship at one point,” said Zelenskyy, who was talking after meeting more than a dozen European leaders at a Summit in London on Sunday, said the noise that shook Kyiv’s allies.
Trump and his allies have said that Kyiv should be ready to reconcile with a ceasefire, an echoed point by Lord Peter Mandelson, the UK ambassador to Washington, on Sunday.
Zelenskyy said Russia’s failure to adhere to the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine after conquering in 2014 convinced it that it would be wrong to accept to fight without a mechanism supported by military forces.
“If you have no end of the war and have no security guarantees, no one is able to control a truce,” Zelenskyy said of Stansted London Airport while preparing to fly back to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian leader was asked about a report in the French newspaper Le Figaro that France and the United Kingdom had proposed a “ceasefire months in the air, at sea and in the energy infrastructure” but refused to comment.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he will work on the planet for a stabilization force for Ukraine that encompasses France and other countries potentially before presenting them in Trump in the hope of persuading him to provide an American background for any European mission.
The Ukrainian leader said Starmer’s announcement was a “good signal”, but many details still had to be processed.
“We will have a work plan and a clearer vision of what security guarantee can be given to Ukraine,” he told Sunday’s meeting. “For us, security guarantees are confident that the same things will not happen after this hot phase (it’s over).”
Zelenskyy said he had no direct contact with Trump since Friday Akrimon’s meeting, but had communicated among officials and he was “prepared to continue dialogue”. He said he was ready for his ministers to sign a controversial agreement to jointly use Ukraine’s mineral rights with the US government, which he had to do on Friday at the Oval office.
Zelenskyy also said it was important to meet the president face to face because there were many mixed messages coming from the Trump administration.
“All these structures are sending each other signals. And I think it would be simpler to have more time for direct dialogue.
“I don’t know their tactics,” he said, adding that he did not want “surprises” in talks with SH.BA
He said it was fair to have a sincere conversation with Trump, but blamed the “absolutely open” format of Friday’s talks that took place in front of the media.
Asked how long Ukraine could continue to defend against Russia’s full-scale occupation without more US military assistance, Zelenskyy said Kyiv would “want to hope for new help” as well as remittances approved at the end of former President Joe Biden administration.
“It is not useful for anyone (military aid) to stop,” he said, adding that “it would be a help to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin exclusively.”
