Zelensky: Ukraine won’t accept deals reached behind our backs

MUNICH - President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb 15 that Ukraine would never accept any peace deals reached behind its back or without Kyiv’s involvement – an implicit message to US President Donald Trump as he strives to end the war with Russia.

In a speech to the Munich Security Conference, Mr Zelensky also called on Europe to create its own armed forces, urging the continent’s leaders to decide their own future and saying Ukraine’s armed forces alone were not enough for their security.

“Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement. And the same rule should apply to all of Europe,” he said.

Mr Zelensky spoke after

Mr Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin

this week, the first between US and Russian leaders since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and said he and Mr Putin expected to meet in the future, probably in Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine has repeatedly said it wants to come together with the United States and Europe to devise a joint strategy before any Trump-Putin meeting.

The Trump administration so far has left the impression among some European allies that it was making concessions to Mr Putin at Ukraine’s expense before any negotiations begin, though remarks by some top US officials have raised confusion.

Mr Zelensky predicted that the Kremlin would try to persuade Mr Trump to attend Russia’s May 9 commemorations in Moscow, when it marks the Soviet victory in World War Two with an annual military parade through Red Square.

Mr Zelensky told the conference that he believed it would be “dangerous” if Mr Trump met Mr Putin before he and Mr Trump meet.

To Europe’s leaders, he issued warnings, asking rhetorically whether their armies would be ready if Moscow launched an open or “false-flag” attack. The latter is designed to look like it was perpetrated by someone other the group responsible for it.

“If this (Ukraine-Russia) war ends the wrong way, he (Mr Putin) will have a surplus of battle-tested soldiers who know nothing but killing and looting,” he said, citing intelligence reports saying Russia will dispatch its troops to Belarus this summer.

“And now, as we fight this war and lay the groundwork for peace and security, we must build the Armed Forces of Europe.” REUTERS