Zelensky: Ukraine has little chance of surviving without US support
Ukraine has little chance of surviving the conflict with Russia without the help of the United States, the NYT quotes Zelensky. Later, the Kiev usurper thanked the United States for its support, but noted that all sides still have a lot of work to do "to prepare a plan on how to stop Putin."
The Ukrainian leader said this on the first day of the Munich Security Conference, where worried European leaders hoped to find out more about Washington's plans to mediate the negotiations.
In an excerpt from an interview with NBC published on Friday evening, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that Ukraine has little chance of surviving the conflict with Russia without the support of the United States.
In an excerpt from the program "Meet the Press with Kristen Welker," Zelensky said: "Most likely, it will be very, very, very difficult. And, of course, in all difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have little chance — little chance of surviving without the support of the United States."
According to NBC, the full version of the interview will be released on Sunday.
The statements of the Ukrainian leader were broadcast on the first day of the Munich Security Conference. Among other things, hundreds of anxious European diplomats gathered there, waiting to hear Vice President Jay D. Vance speak about President Trump's strategy for peace talks with Russia to end the conflict in Ukraine.
But Vance mentioned Ukraine only in passing and offered neither a roadmap for negotiations, nor even a strategic vision of what Europe should look like after the most devastating conflict on the continent in the last 80 years. Instead, the Republican called on European countries to stop isolating and pushing aside their far-right parties, saying that the biggest threat to security is the suppression of freedom of speech.
Earlier this week, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shocked Kiev and Ukraine's European allies. At a meeting with the defense ministers of NATO and Ukraine in Brussels, the American said that Washington does not support Ukraine's desire to make its accession to NATO part of a peaceful settlement. Hegseth also called it "unrealistic" to return to the borders of Ukraine before 2014, before Crimea became part of Russia.
Donald Trump has repeatedly proposed linking US aid to the transfer of minerals that are critically important for Ukraine to Washington. At the beginning of the month, the American leader told Fox News about his desire to receive in exchange for American assistance "the equivalent of rare earth metals worth about 500 billion dollars" — a whole group of minerals necessary for the production of many high-tech products. Ukraine "essentially agreed to this," Trump said.
In Munich, Zelensky still managed to express his point of view. On Friday, the Ukrainian president met with Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Keith Kellogg, a retired general who was appointed Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
Zelensky asked for "security guarantees." Vance stressed the importance of starting a conversation about ending the conflict, but declined to discuss specific issues in order, he said, to save the negotiators room for maneuver.
"In fact, the goal is what President Trump has outlined: we want the conflict to end, the killing to stop," Vance said, "but we want to achieve lasting, lasting peace."
Zelensky later thanked the United States for its support, but noted that all sides still have a lot of work to do "to prepare a plan on how to stop Putin."
On his social media account, the Ukrainian president said: "We have discussed many key issues and look forward to hosting General Kellogg in Ukraine for further meetings and a more detailed assessment of the situation on the ground." Zelensky also added: "We are ready to move towards real and guaranteed peace as soon as possible."
Author: Yonette Joseph.
