President UkraineVolodymyr Zelensky, hopes that the peace talks mediated by the United States (US) with Russia next week will produce results. He felt Kyiv was too often asked to make concessions and urged its allies to provide ‘clear security guarantees’.
Reported Al-JazeeraSunday (15/2/2026), this was conveyed by Zelensky at the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday (14/2). Currently, US President Donald Trump is trying to broker a deal to end the biggest war in Europe since 1945.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine since February 2022, has been involved in two recent rounds of talks mediated by Washington in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The meeting was described by the parties as constructive but did not achieve any breakthrough.
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The three parties are scheduled to meet again in Geneva, Switzerland, this week. In his speech, Zelensky said he hoped the trilateral talks in Geneva would be serious, substantive and useful.
“But to be honest, sometimes it feels like the two sides are talking about completely different things. The Americans often return to the topic of concessions, and too often those concessions are only discussed in the context of Ukraine, not Russia,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader also argued that there would be a greater chance of ending the war if European countries had a seat at the negotiating table. However, this has been opposed by Moscow.
“Europe is practically absent from the negotiating table. I think that’s a big mistake. And Ukraine keeps coming back to one simple point. Peace can only be built on clear security guarantees. Where there is no clear security system, war always returns,” Zelensky said.
Among the most controversial issues in the talks is Russia’s demand for a complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the remaining parts of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region that it still controls. Ukraine has rejected a unilateral withdrawal, while also demanding Western security guarantees to prevent Russia from relaunching its invasion if a ceasefire is reached.
Zelensky, in his statement to journalists, said the US had proposed security guarantees lasting 15 years after the war. But Ukraine wants a deal for 20 years or more.
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin had opposed the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine. Zelensky said Russia should accept ceasefire monitoring missions and prisoner-of-war exchanges. He estimates that Russia currently has around 7,000 Ukrainian troops, while Kyiv has more than 4,000 Russian personnel.
He also acknowledged feeling “a little” pressure from Trump, who last Friday urged him not to miss the “opportunity” to make peace and told him to act immediately. Zelensky also called for greater action from Ukraine’s allies to pressure Russia to make peace, both in the form of tougher sanctions and more arms supplies.
He said Trump had the power to force Putin to declare a ceasefire. Ukrainian officials say a ceasefire is needed to hold a referendum on any peace deal, which would be held alongside national elections.
Zelensky also said he was surprised by Russia’s decision to replace its delegation to the Geneva talks. He thinks that shows Russia wants to delay the deal.
The Kremlin said the Russian delegation would be led by Putin adviser Vladimir Medinsky. The Russian delegation was different from negotiations in Abu Dhabi, where military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov was leading.
Ukrainian officials have criticized Medinsky’s handling of previous talks. Ukraine accused him of giving a history lesson to the Ukrainian team instead of engaging in constructive negotiations.
In his keynote speech at the Munich event, Zelensky also denounced Putin as a “slave of war.” He compared the current talks to the Munich Agreement of 1938, when European powers let Hitler take parts of Czechoslovakia, only for World War II to break out the following year.
“It would be an illusion to believe that this war can now be definitively ended by dividing Ukraine, just as it would be an illusion to believe that sacrificing Czechoslovakia would save Europe from a major war,” he said.
Also watch the video “Zelensky Says Russia Attacked Train in Kharkiv, 4 People Killed”
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(haf/imk)
date:2026-02-15 10:38:00