Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emphasized that martial law in his country will be lifted only when the war with Russia ends and after it receives security guarantees from the West.
Zelenskyy told journalists following a meeting with Trump yesterday, “First of all, we all want the war to end, and only then will martial law be lifted,” saying, “That is the only way.”
“However, the lifting of martial law will occur at the moment when Ukraine obtains security guarantees.
“Without security guarantees, this war cannot be considered truly over. We cannot acknowledge that it has ended, because with such a neighbour there remains a risk of renewed aggression.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
The Ukrainian leader also said that foreign troops on the ground would be a “real security guarantee.” However, Russia has already rejected any plans that include foreign soldiers.
Later, the Ukrainian President told reporters that Washington will provide “strong security guarantees” to Kyiv, but they are not forever.
“In the documents, it is for 15 years, with the possibility of extending these security guarantees. I raised this issue with the President, I told him that we have a war going on, and it has been going on for almost 15 years, so I really wanted the guarantees to be longer.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
He seemed to be counting from 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, and Russia-backed rebels with the help of Russian fighters seized most of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“I told him that we really wanted to consider the possibility of 30, 40, 50 years, and this would then be a historic decision by President Trump. The President said that he would think about it.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Trump held a joint news conference with Zelenskyy following talks on an agreement to end the war at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida yesterday, but few details were provided.
He told reporters that they were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to an agreement. Trump said that it would become clear “in a few weeks” whether negotiations would succeed.
However, issues remain over Ukrainian territory held by Russia as Moscow wants to retain the area taken, while Kyiv has shown willingness to stop the war at the current front lines in the Donbas region and erect a demilitarised area.
According to Moscow’s estimates, its troops hold about 90 percent of Donbas, 75 percent of the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, and parts of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Even though both leaders said that the future of the Donbas had yet to be resolved, Trump insisted discussions were “moving in the right direction.”
Kremlin Calls For Ukraine’s Withdrawal From Donbas
Meanwhile, Kremlin Spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov said that Kyiv should withdraw from the part of the Donbas, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, that it still controls, if it wants peace.
When asked about Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov’s comments on the decision Kyiv needed to make regarding the Donbas, Peskov said that Ukraine should withdraw its troops. “We are talking about the withdrawal of the regime’s armed forces from the Donbas,” Peskov said.
He refused to discuss details.When asked whether that applied to the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions as well, of which Russia controls about 75 percent, according to its estimates.
The Donbas, 90 percent of which is controlled by Russia, according to Russian estimates, is one of the biggest sticking points during ceasefire negotiations between the two countries.
Peskov paraphrased Trump’s comments that Kyiv could lose more territory to Moscow over the coming months unless a deal was struck.
The Kremlin Spokesman later disclosed that Russian President, Vladimir Putin and Trump will hold another telephone conversation in the near future.
Trump and Putin last held a phone call just before the US President met with Zelenskyy at the weekend.
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