Ukraine’s Zelensky urged both the European Union and the United States for unity on Thursday ahead of Trump’s return to the White House, stressing that “European guarantees won’t be sufficient for Ukraine” and the importance to secure a durable peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday he needed both Europe and the United States on board to secure a durable peace, as he huddled with EU leaders at their final summit before Donald Trump‘s inauguration.
Trump returns to the White House next month having pledged to bring a swift end to a conflict that NATO says has left more than one million dead and wounded since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion.
Talk has increasingly turned to ways Europe could help guarantee any ceasefire, with embryonic discussions over a possible deployment of peacekeepers one day.
But there are few specifics and Zelensky insisted that any steps to secure peace would have to involve the might of the United States.
“I believe that the European guarantees won’t be sufficient for Ukraine,” he said after talks with his EU counterparts.
“The main thing is that this is not some artificial story, we need effective mechanisms.”
“We have to do everything that is in our hands to support Ukraine,” said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.
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