Zelenskiy says freezing of conflict with Russia will weaken Ukraine’s position
- 23 January, 11:34
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that freezing of the conflict with Russia would put Kyiv in a weak position in the future peace negotiations to end the three-year-old war. Zelenskiy made the remarks on Thursday in Davos amid concerns over newly-elected US President Donald Trump’s handling of the war, which he has pledged to end swiftly.
"Freezing the conflict is not the best offer for Ukraine, that is a weak position for entering the future negotiations for Ukraine. That is truly a winning position for Russia because they lose nothing and only gain time to replenish their forces. I believe they are willing to come back again," Zelenskiy said in an interview to Bloomberg.
The Ukrainian leader said the key question in peace negotiation would be security guarantee for his country. “The question is: What are the security guarantees that Putin doesn't start another war? And these security guarantees need to come from President Trump and Europe, but Europe will look at President Trump," Zelenskiy said. The Ukrainian leader expressed scepticism over Russia’s security guarantees. “We have seen guarantees many times before: the Budapest Memorandum, the Minsk agreements, the Normandy format, and so on. The question of ceasefires was already on the agenda. That is not new for us.”
It should be noted that, days after his inauguration on Monday, Trump tasked his special envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg to achieve an end to the ongoing war in 100 days in an attempt to deliver his campaign pledge to swiftly conclude the war. During his election campaign Trump said he would end the war on day one after being sworn in. This has raised concerns that Kyiv might be forced to make concessions to Moscow during future peace negotiations. Russian President Vladimir Putin does not seem to share Trump’s enthusiasm to end the war in the nearest future. In a video address on Monday, January 20, Putin said the negotiations with Ukraine should entail “lasting peace” instead of short truce.
