Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said his country would never accept any peace deals reached without its involvement.
This is an implicit message to US President Donald Trump as he strives to end the war with Russia.
Zelenskiy, in a speech to the Munich Security Conference, also called on Europe to create its own armed forces, urging the continent’s leaders to decide their own future and saying Ukraine’s armed forces alone were not enough for the country’s security.
“Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement. And the same rule should apply to all of Europe,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader spoke after Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone this week, the first between US and Russian leaders since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskiy said he and Putin are expected to meet in the future, probably in Saudi Arabia.
Recall that Ukraine has repeatedly said it wants to come together with the United States and Europe to devise a joint strategy before any Trump-Putin meeting.
