Moscow’s push for the “redistribution of influence” in Europe is dangerous and could lead to more wars, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky warned, insisting “war must end first” before any continental security talks.
In comments released Saturday, Zelensky also accused Russia’s Vladimir Putin of proposing evacuations in an embattled town as a ploy to push Kyiv’s troops out and open the road for Moscow’s troops to seize more land.
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with both Putin and Zelensky Thursday following two days of talks in Abu Dhabi, which ended with no breakthrough.
Negotiations did, however, lead to agreements that European countries join future talks on ending the war.
In Dublin on Friday, Europe chose five countries — France, Germany, Italy, the UK and Poland — that will send representatives to the talks.
“The main thing is that Europe will be there,” Zelensky told the media Friday. The comments were embargoed until Saturday.
The Kremlin has pushed for a review of the continent’s security structure, rattling the Europeans.
In 2021, before its Ukraine invasion, Moscow issued an ultimatum to the West to pull back NATO troops from eastern Europe.
“This is dangerous because, in my view, it is precisely things like this that lead to wars or escalations,” Zelensky said.
“Real security in Europe means the EU and NATO. That’s it. There is no other security in Europe.”
‘This war must end first’
European countries have signalled the continent’s security is not to be questioned, with Germany’s Friedrich Merz saying Friday: “We do not need to discuss that, it already exists.”
Ukraine and Europe insist any talks must prioritise an end to fighting.
“We cannot turn everything upside down and start by talking about changing the security framework in the world,” Zelensky said, adding: “This war must be ended first.”
He added that Moscow’s “idea of a redistribution of power in Europe” is “very dangerous”.
Donald Trump’s administration has for almost two years tried to reach a breakthrough in talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Zelensky said that for the first time the US floated a proposal of Kyiv ceding land in exchange for joining NATO.
“The Americans raised a question: ‘What if Ukraine joins NATO? Would Ukraine withdraw from Donbas?’ This was the first time this had been raised.”
He said Ukraine was discussing “specific security guarantees from NATO and the EU” and that if Western countries confirmed them “then I will ask our Ukrainian society what it thinks: do we accept it or not?”
Zelensky says Putin offer a ploy
Zelensky said Putin’s proposal for a “humanitarian mission” to Kostyantynivka was a ploy to get Kyiv to withdraw from the embattled city and open the road to more settlements in the Donetsk region.
Russia said this year it seized the eastern town but Ukraine has said fighting is ongoing.
Putin earlier this week proposed organising what he called a “humanitarian mission” to the city, where he said some 400-500 civilians still lived.
“Putin simply wants us to leave Kostyantynivka so that they can move in and occupy the entire city that way,” Zelensky said.
If Ukraine gave up Kostyantynivka, he said, “their next steps will be our other cities in Donbas. That is the thinking behind this idea.”
Moscow’s troops have inched westwards but have been unable to seize the whole of the Donetsk region.
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