According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the United States is making the provision of security guarantees after the end of the war in Ukraine conditional on handing over the entire Donbas region to Russia. He said so in an interview with Reuters, which the agency published on Wednesday, reports TASR.
The United States is currently focused on its own conflict with Iran and President Donald Trump is therefore putting pressure on Ukraine in an effort to quickly end the four-year war triggered by the Russian invasion in 2022, Zelenskyy said.
“The Middle East certainly has an influence on President Trump and I think also on his next steps. In my opinion, unfortunately, President Trump is still pursuing a strategy in which he puts more pressure on the Ukrainian side,” he said in an interview.
The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly stated that security guarantees from international partners are needed to prevent the re-emergence of fighting by Russia in the event of a peace agreement. “The Americans are ready to finalize these guarantees at the highest level as soon as Ukraine is ready to withdraw from Donbas,” he said. He warned that such a move would threaten the security not only of Ukraine, but also of Europe in a broader sense, as it would mean handing over strong defensive positions in the region to Russia.
According to Zelensky, Moscow is counting on the scenario that Washington loses interest in mediating peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and withdraws from them. Ukraine’s president also says the Kremlin shares intelligence about US forces’ positions in the Middle East with Iran, and Washington has offered to stop doing so if it cuts Ukraine off from US intelligence. He also pointed out that the Iranian drones attacking American military installations in the Middle East have Russian components in them.
Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine has resisted constant attacks by Iranian Shahid-type drones. Therefore, after the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East, it began to help the countries of the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in the fight against drones of this type. Zelenskyj hopes that Thanks to this, Ukraine will conclude long-term agreements with some of these states and thus obtain funds for the production of Ukrainian drone fighters or for the purchase of ammunition for air defense.
