Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told Reuters that the U.S. is making its offer of security guarantees for a peace deal in Ukraine conditional on Kyiv ceding the eastern Donbas region to Russia.
With the U.S. focused on its conflict with Iran, President Donald Trump is applying pressure on Ukraine to bring a quick end to the four-year war triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion, Zelenskiy said.
“The Middle East definitely has an impact on President Trump, and I think on his next steps. President Trump, unfortunately, in my opinion, still chooses a strategy of putting more pressure on the Ukrainian side,” Zelenskiy said.
The U.S., Russia, and Ukraine have held three rounds of high-level trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi and Geneva this year in an effort to negotiate an end to Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War Two, which has devastated swathes of Ukraine and killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Zelenskiy has repeatedly stressed that robust security guarantees from international partners are essential to prevent Russia from restarting hostilities after any peace deal.
Two key questions remain unresolved: who will fund Ukraine’s weapons purchases to sustain its military deterrent, and how allies would respond to future Russian aggression.
“The Americans are prepared to finalise these guarantees at a high level once Ukraine is ready to withdraw from Donbas,” Zelenskiy said, adding that he understood the subtleties of the American position, although he had not participated directly in the trilateral talks.
Russian President, Vladimir Putin insists control of the whole of Donbas is essential to his war aims, which Moscow seeks to achieve militarily if negotiations fail. But the pace of Russia’s advance has been slow over the past two years. Analysts say it could take significant manpower and time to conquer the region, which includes heavily fortified cities known as the Fortress Belt.
Zelenskiy warned that withdrawing would compromise the security of Ukraine—and Europe—by handing strategic defensive positions to Russia.
“I would very much like the American side to understand that the eastern part of our country is part of our security guarantees,” he said.
Zelenskiy had previously said a security guarantees document with the U.S. was “100% ready” in January, but following talks in Miami this week, he said more work remained.
He also said Russia is betting that Washington would lose interest if the peace talks stall. A fourth round of trilateral talks, scheduled this month, was postponed due to the Iran conflict.
Zelenskiy questioned whether Russia was willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands more soldiers to capture the 6,000 square km of Donbas it does not yet control, emphasizing that a summit between Trump, Putin, and himself is the only way to resolve territorial and security issues and achieve a peace deal.
Despite past tensions, Zelenskiy thanked the Trump administration for continuing supplies of Patriot missile defense systems amid the Gulf conflict, noting that the deliveries were critical but not sufficient to meet Ukraine’s needs.