War in Ukraine: Meeting with Putin: Zelensky awaits security guarantees

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was waiting for the main lines of Western security guarantees for his country before his first meeting with Vladimir Putin since the start of the Russian invasion.

Mr. Zelensky said he wanted to understand “the architecture of security guarantees within seven to ten days” in front of a media group including AFP – declarations made Wednesday but under embargo until Thursday morning.

Once this is done, “we should have a bilateral meeting in a week or two”, as Donald Trump wishes, explained Mr. Zelensky, for whom it would be the first meeting with his Russian counterpart since 2019.

Depending on his results, the American president could then participate in a trilateral meeting with the two leaders, according to Mr. Zelensky.

Diplomatic contacts have accelerated in recent weeks to find an outcome to the Russian invasion launched in February 2022, worse armed conflict in Europe since the Second World War.

But the intensity of hostilities does not weaken and each party seems to prepare for the continuation of the fighting.

The unknowns remain numerous as the positions of Moscow and kyiv are opposed, in particular on the issue of occupied Ukrainian territories and on the security guarantees that kyiv negotiates with his allies.

The Ukrainian president mentioned Switzerland, Austria or Turkey for his meeting with his Russian counterpart. On the other hand, he dismissed Hungary who remained close to the Kremlin, preferring a “neutral Europe”.

Vladimir Putin seems to have accepted the principle of this meeting, which he had so far refused.

But neither date nor place was announced, and Moscow seemed to calm the ardor on Wednesday by stressing that such an encounter had to be “prepared with great care”.

Finding an agreement on security guarantees is also complex.

Europeans and Americans have mentioned in recent months different possibilities ranging from guarantees similar to the famous NATO article 5 to the deployment of a military quota in Ukraine or to support for training, air or naval.

Ukraine considers that, even if an outcome is found in this war, Russia will still try to invade it, hence the importance of these guarantees.

Moscow, who considers NATO’s expansion at its borders as one of the “deep causes” that led to the conflict, rejects most of these eventualities categorically and wants its requirements to be taken into account.

Volodymyr Zelensky also excluded the idea of ​​Moscow that China is a security guarantor for Ukraine.

“First, China did not help us put an end to this war from the start. Secondly, China helped Russia (him) opening (sound) drone market, “he said.

Despite diplomatic meetings, the conflict shows no signs of slowdown.

Russia has launched its biggest drone and missile attack in the night from Wednesday to Thursday for weeks, killing and fifteen injured, according to local authorities.

Moscow used 574 drones and 40 missiles, said the Ukrainian air force.

Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of massaging troops in the occupied part of the Zaporijia region, in southern Ukraine, for a potential offensive.

According to the Ukrainian leader, Moscow transfers his forces towards this area from the Russian region of Koursk, a small part of which had been occupied by Ukrainian forces until last spring and where kyiv claims to continue his attacks.

For its part, Ukraine seeks to increase its armament production, a way of reducing its dependence using the allies.

Volodymyr Zelensky said that his country had successfully tested a new missile with a range of 3,000 kilometers called Flamingo.

“This is currently our most efficient missile,” he greeted, evoking possible mass production by the end of the year or early 2026.