President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that on Thursday Ukraine would not accept any two -sided contracts regarding fate, to which Moscow and Washington reached in his absence, and called Europe to a place on the negotiating table at the end of the war.
“Today it is important that everything does not go according to plan (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, in which he wants to do everything to make his negotiations bilateral (from the USA),” he told Zelenskyy reporters.
The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrian Sybiha repeated the president's comments in an interview with the Le Monde newspaper in France on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to visit the countries and start talks about the end of the war in Ukraine in what Trump called the “highly productive” call. It is still unclear whether the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will even play a role in peace conversations.
European leaders also warned the United States against the sealing of Ukraine with a peaceful agreement with Russia behind them, when they got on a place at the table after Donald Trump announced interest in starting negotiations after confirming that he talked to Putin.
“We need to make sure that Ukraine is the same as a heart. There can be no negotiations without the fact that Ukraine is in the center of this, “he told journalists in London.
The post of the President of the United States Trump and later comments on Wednesday caused shock waves through European capitals, which want a central role in peaceful talks, because every settlement in Ukraine, hit by the Russian invasion on a full scale three years ago, will have consequences for their own safety.
“It is obvious that each contract will not work for our backs. Each agreement will also require the fact that Ukraine and Europe will be part of it, “said Kaja Kallas, the head of the European Union foreign policy when the leaders met in Brussels.
“Why do we give them (Russia) everything they want, even before negotiations?” Kallas said, speaking before the meeting of NATO defense ministers with their Ukrainian counterpart in Brussels.
“It's a calming down. It never worked. “
Orban is standing among European leaders
US Secretary of Defense Pete HegeSeth said on Wednesday that Ukraine is unrealistic to return to the borders before 2014 and that NATO membership for Kiev will not be part of a peace agreement. Russia took over and annexed the Peninsula of the Crimea of Ukraine in 2014.
The German defense minister Boris Pistorius also said that it would be better if Washington did not make concessions to Moscow before the start of peace talks.
Pete HegeSeth claims that membership in NATO, borders before 2014, are not realistic for Ukraine in negotiations on the suspension of weapons and that Europe must charge more defense costs of Ukraine.
The Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene said that Europe should not fall “under the illusion that Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin will find a solution for all of us.”
Not all European leaders were concerned about Trump's movement.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Trump's ally, who was also more friendly to Putin than most European leaders, praised the US president and criticized the ministers' statement.
“You can't ask for a place at the negotiating table. You must get it! ” He said on social media.
European leaders say that one of the reasons why they must be involved in conversations is that Washington explained that he expected them to provide security guarantees of all peace agreements, which may mean the distribution of European soldiers in Ukraine.
“It is not possible not to be at the table, because we are very important in the actual implementation of these security guarantees,” said Dutch defense minister Ruben Bretelmans.
Ukraine urgently tried to establish close relationships with the new Trump administration, offering a mineral agreement to gain favor, while Russian forces, already occupying one -fifth of Ukraine, keep pressure on the battlefield.
“Hope for the best”: Residents of Kiev react
In interviews with Reuters, the inhabitants of Kiev reacted to the perspective of quick peace conversations with a mixture of consternation and cautious hope.
“It really looks like they want to surrender to Ukraine, because I don't see any benefits for our country from these negotiations or Trump's rhetoric,” said MyRoslava Lesko, a resident of Kiev MyRoslav Lesko, standing near the sea of flags in the city center.
Some Ukrainians expressed the frustration that the US under the previous administration of Joe Biden, despite providing billions of military assistance, did not do enough to tilt the war in favor of Kiev.
“Trump is a person with a strong will,” said 60-year-old Hryhoriy Buhoyets. “He can decide what he wants, and when it comes to Ukraine, I think he has some plans.”
Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of the third fight of the staff brigade during the war, wrote in the Telegram application that he did not expect Ukraine to receive fast NATO membership.
38-year-old Olena Chupika, a manager in Kiev, said that Ukraine has already proved to be effective in providing foreign support, which once seemed unreal, citing F-16 fighters provided by allies.
“I hope the best,” she said. “I would like to because the mood is not great.”