Zelensky: Don’t trust Putin’s claim to want peace

Volodymyr Zelensky emphasised that Ukraine would not accept any bilateral peace talks in which Kyiv did not participate.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned world leaders not to trust Vladimir Putin. Picture: AFP.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has warned world leaders not to trust Russian president Vladimir Putin to end the war and repeated calls for Ukrainian membership of NATO as a cost effective security guarantee.

Mr Zelensky said NATO membership for the country would be the most “cost effective” security guarantee for western partners, as well providing the country with “serious investment” in Ukraine’s defence industry.

Mr Zelensky also emphasised that Ukraine would not accept any bilateral peace talks in which Kyiv did not participate.

“We cannot accept it, as an independent country any agreements without us … any bilateral talks about Ukraine without us, we will not accept,’’ he said.

On Thursday (AEDT) US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth ruled out Ukraine’s admission into the NATO alliance, saying the US did not believe NATO membership for Ukraine was a “realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.”

NATO Secretary-general Mark Rutte said while the alliance was committed to giving Ukraine membership, it was never agreed it would be a term of any peace talks with Russia.

Russia has confirmed it will take part in peace negotiations, after talks between Mr Trump and Mr Putin.

The UAE has offered to host the talks. Saudi Arabia has also been mentioned.

On Friday Mr Zelensky discussed the possibility of such peace talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and insisted that negotiations can’t begin without a united position from Ukraine, Europe and the United States.

“We discussed key messages and the need to co-ordinate the positions of all Europeans to achieve successful outcomes for the whole of Europe,’’ Mr Zelensky said of his meeting with Mr Tusk.

“I emphasised that Ukraine must negotiate from a position of strength, with strong and reliable security guarantees, and that NATO membership would be the most cost-effective for partners. Another key guarantee is serious investment in Ukraine’s defence industry.

“I also warned world leaders against trusting Putin’s claims of readiness to end the war.”

UK Defence Secretary John Healey said on Friday that Ukraine must be involved in any negotiations about ending the war.

“There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine”, he said, adding: “Ukrainians are fighting bravely. It’s our jobs, it’s our job as defence ministers here at NATO, to put them in the best position to secure a lasting peace through strength.”

Former British defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace wrote in the Telegraph UK that if Mr Trump was seen to capitulate to the Kremlin as world leaders gathered for the Munich Security Conference it would be a repeat of Chamberlain’s “peace for our time” moment.

“Munich’s motto is ‘peace through dialogue’, but it has proven itself in recent years to also be a forceful bastion of European resistance against Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine,’’ he wrote.

“What a shame, then, that this year’s gathering seems set to mirror the disastrous conference of 1938 where the continent stood blind in the face of Hitler’s duplicity. The stench of appeasement is once again returning to Munich.

“After Chamberlain returned to Britain in 1938 having signed an agreement with Adolf Hitler, he proclaimed ‘peace for our time’. Winston Churchill then rebutted that, saying ‘you were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war’.

“The same fate awaits the West, whether in the Taiwan Strait, Iran, or elsewhere in Europe, if it fails to stand strong now. And like 87 years ago, it will have its roots in Munich.”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned that “appeasement always fails and that any quick fix is a dirty deal and it wont stop the killing. She said European allies would support Ukraine’s position if Ukraine “decides to resist”.

However Mr Hegseth said it was cheap political point-scoring to accuse President Trump of any appeasement and described the US president as the “perfect deal-maker”.

“It’s just a cheap political point to say, ‘Oh, we’ve left all the negotiating cards off the table by recognising some realities that exist on the ground’,” he said. “These negotiations are led by President Trump. Everything is on the table. In his conversations with Vladimir Putin and Zelensky, what he decides to allow or not allow is at the purview of the leader of the free world, President Trump.”

AFP