Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that his country wants 91裸聊视频渟ecurity guarantees91裸聊视频� before any talks with Russia, as the Trump administration presses both countries to find a quick endgame to the three-year war.
Shortly before sitting down with Vice President JD Vance for highly anticipated talks at the , Zelenskyy said he will only agree to meet in-person with Russian leader Vladimir Putin after a common plan is negotiated with U.S. President Donald Trump.
The roughly 40-minute meeting between Vance and Zelenskyy produced no major announcements detailing the way out of the deadliest war in Europe since World War II. Zelenskyy made a plaintive statement about the state of play.
91裸聊视频淲e want peace very much,91裸聊视频� Zelenskyy said. 91裸聊视频淏ut we need real security guarantees.91裸聊视频�
Vance, for his part, said the Trump administration is committed to finding a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia.
91裸聊视频淔undamentally, the goal is, as President Trump outlined it, we want the war to come to a close,91裸聊视频� Vance said. 91裸聊视频淲e want the killings to stop. Not the kind of peace that91裸聊视频檚 going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple of years down the road.91裸聊视频�
Trump upended years of steadfast U.S. support for Ukraine this week following with Putin, when he said the two leaders would likely meet soon to negotiate a peace deal. Trump later assured Zelenskyy that he, too, would have a seat at the table.
91裸聊视频楴ew sheriff in town91裸聊视频�
Before his meeting with Zelenskyy, on free speech and illegal migration on the continent, warning that they risk losing public support if they don91裸聊视频檛 quickly change course.
91裸聊视频淭he threat that I worry the most about vis-脿-vis Europe is not Russia. It91裸聊视频檚 not China. It91裸聊视频檚 not any other external actor,91裸聊视频� Vance said in an address to the Munich Security Conference. 91裸聊视频淲hat I worry about is the threat from within 91裸聊视频� the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.91裸聊视频�
: 91裸聊视频淚f you91裸聊视频檙e running in fear of your own voters there91裸聊视频檚 nothing America can do for you.91裸聊视频�
The speech and Trump91裸聊视频檚 push for a quick way out of Ukraine have been met with at the annual gathering of world leaders and national security officials.
The vice president also warned the European officials against illegal migration, saying Europeans didn91裸聊视频檛 vote to open 91裸聊视频渇loodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants91裸聊视频� and referencing an attack Thursday in Munich where the suspect is a 24-year-old Afghan who arrived in Germany as an asylum-seeker in 2016.
The violence left more than 30 people injured and appears to have had an Islamic extremist motive.
NATO defense spending
Earlier Friday, Vance met separately with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. He used the engagements to reiterate the Republican administration91裸聊视频檚 call for NATO members to spend more on defense.
Currently, 23 of NATO91裸聊视频檚 32 member nations are hitting the Western military alliance91裸聊视频檚 target of spending 2% of their GDP on defense.
But European leaders are pushing back that the White House91裸聊视频檚 characterizations of a dependent Europe doesn91裸聊视频檛 play out in the data. The continent has rallied to get behind Ukraine since Putin launched the February 2022 invasion. The U.S. has poured more than $66 billion in weapons and military assistance into Ukraine, while European and other allies have sent $60 billion in weaponry to Kyiv.
91裸聊视频淲e have put in place hard-hitting sanctions, substantially weakening Russia91裸聊视频檚 economy,91裸聊视频� EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in remarks to the conference. 91裸聊视频淲e have broken one taboo after another and smashed our reliance on Russian gas, making us more resilient permanently. And we are about to do more.91裸聊视频�
Chernobyl drone strike
Hours before Vance and Zelenskyy were set to meet, a Russian drone with a high-explosive warhead of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Kyiv region, the Ukrainian president said. Radiation levels have not increased, Zelenskyy and the U.N. atomic agency said.
Zelenskyy told reporters that he thinks the Chernobyl drone strike is a 91裸聊视频渧ery clear greeting from Putin and Russian Federation to the security conference.91裸聊视频�
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday denied Ukraine91裸聊视频檚 claims. And Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the Munich organizers haven91裸聊视频檛 invited Russia for several years.
Trump has been vague about his specific intentions for Ukraine and Russia 91裸聊视频� other than suggesting that a deal will likely result in that Russia has seized since it annexed Crimea in 2014.
Ukraine91裸聊视频檚 bid to join NATO
Trump91裸聊视频檚 musings have , wondering how 91裸聊视频� or even if 91裸聊视频� they can maintain the post-WWII security that NATO afforded them or fill the gap in the that the Democratic Biden administration provided to Ukraine since Russia91裸聊视频檚 invasion.
Trump has been highly skeptical of that aid and is expected to cut or otherwise limit it as negotiations get underway.
Both Trump and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week undercut Ukraine91裸聊视频檚 hopes of becoming part of NATO, which or of getting back territory captured by Russia, which currently occupies close to 20% including Crimea.
91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 see any way that a country in Russia91裸聊视频檚 position could allow 91裸聊视频� them to join NATO,91裸聊视频� Trump said Thursday. 91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 see that happening.91裸聊视频�
Zelenskyy, in his own remarks during the conference, said the United States, including the Biden administration, never saw Ukraine as a NATO member.
Possible sanctions against Russia
Vance, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, said the U.S. would hit Moscow with sanctions and potentially military action if Putin won91裸聊视频檛 agree to a peace deal with Ukraine that guarantees Kyiv91裸聊视频檚 long-term independence.
The warning that military options 91裸聊视频渞emain on the table91裸聊视频� was striking language from a Trump administration that91裸聊视频檚 repeatedly underscored a desire to quickly end the war.
Vance91裸聊视频檚 team later pushed back on the newspaper91裸聊视频檚 report, saying he 91裸聊视频渄idn91裸聊视频檛 make any threats.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淗e simply stated the fact that no one is going to take options away from President Trump as these negotiations begin,91裸聊视频� said Will Martin, Vance91裸聊视频檚 communications director.
European turning point
The track Trump is taking also has rocked Europe.
French Deputy Foreign Minister Benjamin Haddad described Europe as being at a turning point, with the ground shifting rapidly under its feet, and said Europe must wean itself off its reliance on the United States for its security. He warned that handing a victory to Russia in Ukraine could have repercussions in Asia, too.
91裸聊视频淚 think we91裸聊视频檙e not sufficiently grasping the extent to which our world is changing. Both our competitors and our allies are busy accelerating,91裸聊视频� Haddad told broadcaster France Info on Thursday.
