Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of a unified European military force, saying the continent must be self-reliant amid a persistent threat from Russia and uncertainty about U.S. support — a situation he described as "this new reality."
"We must build the Armed Forces of Europe so that Europe's future depends only on Europeans and decisions about Europe are made in Europe," Zelenskyy said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15.
Amid concerns in Kyiv and Brussels that they could be sidelined in efforts to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, resulting in a deal favoring Moscow, he repeated that Ukraine and Europe must be involved in any negotiations.
"Ukraine will never accept deals behind our backs without our involvement," Zelenskyy said. "The same rule should apply to all of Europe. No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine — no decisions about Europe without Europe.
"We must act as Europe, not as some separate people," Zelenskyy said.
Speaking almost three years after Russia launched the full-scale invasion, he said he would "not take NATO membership for Ukraine off the table" and said Kyiv would not agree to any ceasefire without real security guarantees.
"If not NATO membership, then conditions to build another NATO in Ukraine," he said.
He questioned the U.S. commitment to Europe, saying: "Does America need Europe? As a market, yes, as an ally — I don't know."
Zelenskyy's address came a day after meeting with top U.S. officials, including Vice President JD Vance, who stressed the need for a "durable, lasting peace" in Ukraine in his speech to the conference on Feb. 14.
Zelenskyy told Vance that Ukraine wants "security guarantees" from Washington before any negotiations with Russia on ending almost three years of war.
The United States has sent mixed signals on its strategy, sparking worry in Kyiv that Ukraine could be forced into a bad deal that leaves Putin emboldened.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told NATO defense ministers earlier this week that it's "unrealistic" to expect Ukraine's borders to return to their pre-2014 positions and said NATO membership is not seen by the White House as part of the solution to the conflict.
Ukraine demands Russia withdraw from captured territory and says it must receive NATO membership or equivalent security guarantees to prevent Moscow from attacking again.
Speaking in Warsaw on Feb. 14, he again warned that America's European NATO partners would have to do far more for their own defense and to secure a future Ukraine peace.
Hegseth also argued that you "don't have to trust" President Vladimir Putin to negotiate with Russia.
Two days earlier U.S. President Donald Trump said he had a "lengthy and highly productive" phone call with Putin and said they agreed that their teams should begin negotiations immediately.
Zelenskyy responded by saying he wouldn't accept any deals made without Ukraine's involvement.
Asked in an interview with NBC on Feb. 14 if he believed that Ukraine would be vulnerable in another few years if a ceasefire were reached, Zelenskyy said: "Yes, I think this can be."
He said Putin wanted to come to the negotiating table not to end the war but to get a ceasefire deal to lift some sanctions on Russia and allow Moscow's military to regroup.
"This is really what he wants. He wants pause, prepare, train, take off some sanctions, because of ceasefire," Zelenskyy said.
Vance, who is representing Trump at the high-profile gathering of world leaders and foreign policy experts, said the United States wants "the kind of peace that's going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road."
There have been a number of "good conversations" with Ukraine, and more would follow "in the days, weeks and months to come," Vance said.
Zelenskyy agreed, calling the meeting with Vance "a good conversation" and said Kyiv wants to work toward ending Russia's war in Ukraine, but he added that "we need real security guarantees."
Some information for this report came from NBC News.
