Ukrainian team heading to US for security guarantee talks, says Zelensky

KYIV – A Ukrainian delegation is en route to the United States for talks on security guarantees and a post-war recovery package, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Jan 16.

He expressed hope the documents could be signed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos next week.

During the talks, Kyiv’s team also hopes to get clarity from the US on the Russian stance towards US-backed diplomatic efforts to end the nearly four-year war, Mr Zelensky said during a news conference in Kyiv alongside Czech President Petr Pavel.

“I think we have worked well with the American side. We are just not on the same side on some issues,” he said of the negotiations with Washington.

US President Donald Trump said earlier this week he may meet with Mr Zelensky at the WEF, a meeting that the Ukrainian leader has publicly sought.

Mr Zelensky said Ukraine has completed its part of the work on the documents outlining a “prosperity package” to unlock money for Ukraine’s costly post-war recovery, as well as on US security guarantees designed to stop a future Russian attack.

Ukrainian officials have said the country will need US$800 billion (S$1 trillion) for its post-war reconstruction.

Washington has pushed Ukraine to agree to a peace framework that it will then present to Moscow, while Kyiv and its European allies have sought to ensure that Ukraine will not be attacked again by Russia in future.

“Ultimatums are not, in my view, a workable model for democratic relations between countries,” Mr Zelensky said, without specifying to what he was referring.

Mr Trump, who has often criticised Mr Zelensky, said on Jan 14 that Russia was ready for a peace deal, and that he saw the Ukrainian leader as

the obstacle to peace

, an assessment that stands in stark contrast with that of European allies.

On Jan 16, Mr Zelensky said Russia was stalling peace efforts, and cited Moscow’s recent strikes on Ukraine’s energy system as proof of Moscow’s real intentions.

“Each of these strikes against our energy sector and our cities quite clearly shows Russia’s real interests and intentions: They are not interested in agreements, but in the further destruction of Ukraine,” he posted on social media after the news conference.

At the news conference, Mr Zelensky also pushed for more air defence ammunition to protect Ukraine’s power grid. He said that until a new aid package arrives, several air defence systems are left without missiles.

“We need to fight for these (aid) packages with blood, with people’s lives,” he told reporters. REUTERS