Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine will work with its partners on compromises, insisting any peace agreement must strengthen Ukraine rather than weaken it.
Speaking via a videolink at the opening session of the Crimea Platform parliamentary summit in Sweden, the Ukrainian President asserted that his country is at a “critical moment” in efforts to secure a path to peace.
He noted that Ukraine was “working closely with United States and European partners, with many others to define steps that can end Russia’s war against us, against Ukraine, and bring real security.”
He urged leaders to “not be passive observers of history” and “do not stay silent,” but defend the key principles of postwar peace in Europe: “that borders cannot be changed by force, that war criminals must not escaped justice.”
Zelenskyy insisted that “the core principle that kept Europe peaceful longer than at any other time in its history must be respected,” as borders should not be changed by force. He warned that if this principle “does not work in Europe, then were will it work?”
He described Russia as the aggressor and said Moscow must pay for the war it started, stressing that a decision on the use of Russian financial assets that have been frozen by Western countries since the start of the war would be crucial in that.
He accused Russian President, Vladimir Putin of seeking “legal recognition for what he has stolen,” saying Moscow’s aim was to break the core principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty. “That’s the main problem,” he added.
Talking about the Geneva talks this weekend, Zelenskyy praised the talks with the US, saying that they agreed on “extremely sensitive” points on the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war and Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, but noted that “to achieve real peace, more is needed.”
“We all continue working with partners, especially the United States, and look for compromises that strengthen but not weaken us, and we will continue explaining how dangerous it is to pretend that aggression is something one can simply overlook and move on.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
His comments came after US Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Sunday that Ukraine’s leadership had “expressed zero gratitude for our efforts”, referring to his plan to end the nearly four-year conflict.
Hours later, Zelenskyy wrote on X that “Ukraine is grateful to the United States, to every American heart, and personally to President Trump” for assistance that “has been saving Ukrainian lives.”
Ukraine’s Red Lines Outlined
Speaking at the same event, Speaker of Ukraine’s Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk noted that Ukraine was ready to move to “a genuine peace,” but outlined Ukraine’s red lines for negotiations “which no one has the right to cross: physically, legally, morally,” identifying them as the formal recognition of occupied territories as Russian, limits on Ukraine’s defence forces and restrictions on its future alliances. outlined three red lines for Kyiv in any talks
Stefanchuk added that “any genuine peace process must be based on a very clear principle: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, and nothing about Europe without Europe.”
He stressed that any agreement must not violate the country’s constitution, which also repeats some of these points, for example on territory.
He picked up Zelenskyy’s points on Russian frozen assets, saying that diverting them for Ukraine to use would be “the price for the lives taken and the price for the destruction inflicted” by Moscow.
Stefanchuk also said at the Crimea Platform meeting in Sweden that membership in the EU and NATO must be elements of Ukraine’s security guarantees and any peace plan.
Swedish Foreign Minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard said that to achieve a lasting peace in Ukraine, its borders cannot be changed by force.
Stenergard also said there cannot be limitations on Ukraine’s military that would invite further Russian aggression.
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