Ukraine wants ‘armed forces of Europe’, rejects Trump deal on mineral resources
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the creation of an “armed forces of Europe”, as he reacted to Donald Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin and rejected a new US deal for security.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he believes it is time for the creation of an “armed forces of Europe”, adding “our army is not enough”.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he said Europe cannot rule out the possibility that “America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it”.
“I really believe that time has come,” he told the conference in Germany.
“The armed forces of Europe must be created.”
Mr Zelenskyy reacted to Donald Trump’s call this week with Russian president Vladimir Putin by saying the main issue was to “not allow everything to go according to Putin’s plan”.
Mr Trump has tried to reassure Mr Zelenskyy that he will have a seat at the negotiating table.
“Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement, and the same rule should apply to all of Europe,” Mr Zelenskyy said at the conference on Saturday.
He also insisted that no decisions should be taken on ending Russia’s war without Kyiv and Europe as the United States pushes to open talks with Moscow.
“Ukraine will never accept deals made behind our backs without our involvement,” Zelensky said.
“No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine. No decisions about Europe without Europe.” Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, gave Europeans reasons to doubt they would be heard.
Europe would not be directly involved in talks but would still have an “input”, Kellogg said in Munich.
European leaders have now scrambled to force their way to the table at any talks on the Ukraine war, as Washington announced a team of senior US officials was planning to meet in Saudi Arabia with counterparts from Moscow and Kiev.
Trump upended the status quo this week when he announced he was likely to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin soon to start talks to end the conflict, leaving US allies in Europe reeling from concerns that their interests would be sidelined in any deal on Ukraine.
UKRAINE REJECTS US REQUEST FOR MINERAL RESOURCES
Separately, Zelenskyy rejected a Trump administration request this week that Kyiv hand over 50 per cent of its mineral resources.
Ukrainian officials are working on a counterproposal that would still maintain US security guarantees for Ukraine, according to the Washington Post.
Zelenskyy told reporters Saturday he had not agreed to the proposal “because it’s not ready yet.”
He said that security guarantees were not part of the US proposal, and that Ukraine needed that in any agreement.
“We can consider how to distribute profits when security guarantees are clear. So far, I have not seen that in the document,” he said.
TRUMP’S VP SEEKS LASTING PEACE WITH RUSSIA
US Vice President JD Vance has also pledged that Washington sought to secure a “lasting” peace as he held a first meeting with Ukraine’s leader to discuss Mr Trump’s push for a deal with Moscow.
The talks in Munich on the sidelines of the German hosted security conference were seen as a key moment for Kyiv as it tries to keep Washington on its side after Mr Trump stunned allies by announcing peace efforts with Mr Putin.
“We want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that’s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road,” Mr Vance said.
He said “good conversations” had been had with Zelenskyy about how they could reach that goal, and they would have more talks “in the days, weeks and months to come”.
Mr Zelenskyy also hailed a “good conversation”, saying the encounter with Vance was “our first meeting, not last, I’m sure”.
“We are ready to move as quickly as possible towards a real and guaranteed peace,” Mr Zelenskyy wrote later on X, adding that an envoy from Washington would visit Kyiv.
RUSSIAN DRONE ATTACKS CHERNOBYL REACTOR
The meeting came hours after a Russian drone attacked the former Chernobyl power plant which was the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident in 1986.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has classified the Chernobyl drone attack as a war crime and have started criminal proceedings.
The drone damaged the concrete shell of power unit, but so far radiation levels have remained stable.
“For maximum damage, this attack drone was equipped with a high-explosive warhead,” the SBU wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor’s Office said it has launched an investigation.
VANCE SAYS RUSSIAN AGRESSION A LESSER THREAT
Mr Vance took the opportunity to address the conference where he suggested Russian aggression was a lesser threat than the one European nations posed to one another.
“The threat that I worry most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, not China, it’s not any other external actor,” Mr Vance said.
“What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values.”
The American VP went on to outline the decision by Romania’s constitutional court to annul the country’s presidential election last year.
The annulment was made based on evidence of Russian interference in the outcome.
Earlier this week, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said it was not “practical” for Ukraine to join NATO.
Mr Hegseth added it was an “unrealistic objective” for Ukraine to return to its borders before Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Mr Trump, speaking in the Oval Office after a call with Putin, similarly said that was an “unlikely” ambition but that “some of it will come back”.
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