Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that his country would not accept any agreement on its fate decided bilaterally by Russia and the United States on how to end Moscow’s three-year war on Ukraine without Kyiv’s involvement.
"We, as an independent country, simply will not be able to accept any agreements without us," Zelenskyy told reporters as he visited a nuclear plant on his way to the Munich Security Conference, where he plans to meet Friday with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and they agreed that negotiations to end the war should start immediately, with Trump suggesting the two of them might soon hold a summit in Saudi Arabia. Trump later talked with Zelenskyy and informed him of his discussions with Putin.
On Thursday, Zelenskyy said, "Today it's important that everything does not go according to Putin's plan, in which he wants to do everything to make his negotiations bilateral” with the U.S.
Still, on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said after talking with Trump, “We discussed many nuances, diplomatic, military, economic, and President Trump informed me of what Putin told him. We believe that America’s power is enough to, together with us, together with all partners, pressure Russia and Putin toward peace."
Zelenskyy said he talked with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Thursday, telling him that “no negotiations with Putin can begin without a united position from Ukraine, Europe, and the U.S. I emphasized that Ukraine must negotiate from a position of strength, with strong and reliable security guarantees, and that NATO membership would be the most cost-effective for partners.”
“Another key guarantee is serious investment in Ukraine’s defense industry. I also warned world leaders against trusting Putin’s claims of readiness to end the war,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump said, in all caps on his Truth Social media platform on Thursday, “Great talks with Russia and Ukraine yesterday. Good possibility of ending that horrible, very bloody war!!!”
Trump’s phone call with Putin came after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told other NATO defense chiefs that Ukraine’s goal of restoring its 2014 borders was unrealistic and that the U.S. does not foresee Ukraine joining NATO, the West’s key military alliance, as part of a negotiated settlement of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Moscow’s forces now hold about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean Peninsula it unilaterally annexed in 2014.
Zelenskyy said it was important for the United States and Ukraine to draw up a plan to end the war before talking to the Russian side. Ukraine has said it is working on a Zelenskyy-Trump meeting, but nothing firm has been announced.
Zelenskyy said he did not discuss the possibility of NATO membership during his phone call with Trump, although he said he knew that the United States was against the idea. NATO’s 32-nation bloc says it is committed to eventual Ukraine NATO membership but not while the Russia-Ukraine war rages.
Russian officials and state-backed media appeared triumphant after Wednesday’s call between Trump and Putin that lasted more than an hour.
“To us, the position of the current [U.S.] administration is much more appealing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chair of Russia’s National Security Council, said in an online statement, “The presidents of Russia and the U.S. have talked at last. This is very important in and of itself.”
Trump in the past has declined to say he wants Ukraine to win the war against Russia. On Wednesday, after talking with Putin and Zelenskyy, he said, “I’m backing Ukraine, but I do want security for our money,” with U.S. officials suggesting recently that Ukraine agree to supply the U.S. with rare earth minerals for manufacture of technology products in exchange for continued military support.
