Zelenskyy says Ukraine needs security guarantees for cease-fire with Russia

ISTANBUL

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country needs security guarantees to approve a cease-fire deal with Russia.

Speaking in an interview with US podcaster Lex Fridman posted on Sunday, Zelenskyy questioned the possibility of a cease-fire without knowing what will happen to Ukraine’s security guarantees, saying they must understand what guarantees will be implemented.

“If this is a cease-fire, we must understand exactly what security guarantees are in place in the part of Ukraine that we control. We need it so that he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) will not come back,” he said.

Zelenskyy said he wishes and believes in incoming US President Donald Trump’s power to use the information on the situation to come up with a way to make Ukraine stronger.

The Ukrainian president argued the reasoning behind his remarks with an example, saying Trump will be stuck in the same situation as he was back in 2019 – in between his two terms as president, as now – where he wants an end to the conflict and a cease-fire.

“What will happen next with President Trump if the cease-fire happens without security guarantees, at least for the territory we control, what does he get? If he manages to make a cease-fire deal, and three months later Putin launches a new wave of attacks. What will Trump look like? What will Ukraine look like?” he asked.

Zelenskyy argued Trump would be “giving a pass” on Putin should he manage a cease-fire deal without security guarantees for Ukraine, but that he believes this is not what Trump wants.

Trump is set to return to the US presidency on Jan. 20. He has often said that he could quickly and easily end the Ukraine war.

Zelenskyy said a “strong Ukraine” must be present before a cease-fire deal is reached, adding that a quick step to address Kyiv’s security guarantees is NATO membership, which he described as part of security guarantees for his country.

Zelenskyy noted new arms packages as the second part of security guarantees, which he said mostly depends on the will of the US.

"Because partially (the) EU will give, and partially you, the United States, of course, together ... We need unity with this package also," he added.

Belarus’ Lukashenko

Zelenskyy also commented on the early days of the Ukraine war, saying that he had a phone conversation with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on the second or third day of the conflict, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Belarus, neighboring Ukraine, has been Russia’s closest ally in the war.

Claiming that Lukashenko apologized to him about missiles launched on Ukraine during this period, Zelenskyy added that his Belarusian counterpart told him that it was Putin who launched the missiles.

The Ukrainian president said he asked his counterpart why he allowed the missiles to be launched, then claimed Lukashenko told him to retaliate by hitting Belarus’ Mozyr Oil Refinery.

Natalia Eismont, Lukashenko's press secretary, on Monday denied that the Belarusian president apologized to Zelenskyy, saying Minsk has "nothing to apologize for."

"First of all, because Ukraine, as we remember, was the first to impose sanctions on Belarus, running even ahead of America and the entire West," Eismont told Russian news outlet RBK.