Tim Ireland / EPA
Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the summit of NATO
President of Ukraine does not move forward with accession if there are security guarantees. Give territories to Russia? No.
The Ukrainian President Volodyyr President Zelenskyy admitiu, in Germany, drop the country’s candidacy for NATO in return for Western security guarantees, but rejected US pressure to cede territory to Russia.
In response to journalists via WhatsApp upon arrival in Berlin for a meeting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that, since the US and some European countries rejected Ukraine’s claim to join NATO, Kiev expects the West to provide security guarantees similar to those offered to members of the Alliance.
“From the beginning, Ukraine’s desire was to join NATObecause these are genuine security guarantees”, he commented. However“some US and European partners did not support this path.”
“It is security guarantees they are an opportunity to prevent another wave of Russian aggression”, he maintained, quoted by the Associated Press (AP) news agency, guaranteeing that this “is already a commitment” on the part of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian President added that these security guarantees would have to be legally binding and accepted by the US Congress.
Give up territories? No
No entanto, Volodymyr Zelensky rejected, with no chance of being worked on, the US proposal for the Ukraine withdraws from eastern Donetsk region and a demilitarized free economic zone be created there.
“I don’t think it’s fair, because who is going to manage this economic zone?”, he stressed, asking: “If the Ukrainian troops retreat five, ten kilometers, for example, then why don’t the Russian troops retreat deeper into the occupied territories at the same distance?”
The head of state reiterated that the issue is” very sensitive” and insisted on a freezing along the current line of contact in the territory.
The President of Ukraine and US envoys for peace negotiations in Ukraine will meet again today, Monday, in Berlin, after this Sunday’s meeting lasted five hours.
At the end of this Sunday’s meeting, Steve Witkoff stated that “there were a lot of progress”, adding that “in-depth discussions took place on the 20 points for peace, economic programs and much more”.
