Zelenskyy hails US security guarantees; calls for trilateral talks with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hailed Washington’s decision to join security guarantees for Kyiv, describing it as a “historic step” and urging the creation of a trilateral format involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia.“Everyone supports that key issues must be resolved with Ukraine’s participation in a trilateral format – Ukraine, the US, and the Russian chief,” Zelenskyy said after talks with the Coalition of the Willing in Brussels on Sunday.Writing on X, he stressed that the guarantees must go beyond political gestures. “Security guarantees, as a result of our joint work, must really be very practical, delivering protection on land, in the air, and at sea, and must be developed with Europe’s participation.”Zelenskyy is due in Washington on Monday for a meeting with President Donald Trump. European leaders, including European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, will also attend. Ahead of that meeting, Zelenskyy underlined the importance of European unity and said, “It’s crucial that Europe remains as united as it was in 2022. This strong unity is essential to achieve a real peace.”Moscow, meanwhile, has pushed back against Western proposals. Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organisations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said the West must also offer Russia reliable guarantees.“Many EU leaders emphasise that the future peace agreement should provide reliable security guarantees for Ukraine. Russia agrees with this. But it has every right to expect that Moscow will also receive effective security guarantees,” he said, warning against repeating what he called broken promises on Nato’s eastward expansion, as reported by Tass.According to news agency ANI, US President Trump has said that if his talks with Zelenskyy in Washington prove fruitful, he will then move to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, though he did not clarify if such a gathering would take the form of a trilateral summit.Trump had already met Putin in Alaska last week, but those talks failed to produce a ceasefire. Still, both leaders signalled agreement on the principle of “robust security guarantees” for Ukraine, according to White House envoy Steve Witkoff.The US president, who has shifted his rhetoric towards seeking a full peace deal rather than a temporary truce, wrote on Truth Social on Sunday: “Big progress on Russia. Stay tuned!”.European capitals have cautiously welcomed Washington’s stronger role. Ursula von der Leyen described the development as “positive,” but Zelenskyy rejected the idea of Moscow playing any part in shaping Kyiv’s security framework.“What President Trump said about security guarantees is much more important to me than Putin’s thoughts, because Putin will not give any security guarantees,” Zelenskyy said at a joint news conference with von der Leyen in Brussels, as per AFP.Macron, for his part, made clear that Russia’s proposals amounted to capitulation. “There is only one state proposing a peace that would be a capitulation: Russia,” he said. Moscow’s foreign ministry later denounced this as an “abject lie.”Behind the scenes, sources cited by AFP claim that Washington had discussed proposals linked to territorial concessions. According to one account of a call between Trump, Zelenskyy and European leaders, the US president suggested supporting a Russian demand for full control over Donetsk and Lugansk in exchange for halting the offensive in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.Zelenskyy has firmly rejected those terms, insisting Ukraine will not abandon the Donbas.Despite diplomatic manoeuvres, fighting continues on the ground. Ukrainian officials reported on Monday that 13 people were wounded in Russian strikes on Kharkiv and the Sumy region. Both Kyiv and Moscow have also carried out drone attacks.