Topline
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not accept a peace deal that President Donald Trump brokers with Russia if Ukraine doesn’t participate in the negotiations, Zelensky told NBC News, after Trump said the U.S. will “immediately” begin negotiations with Russia—but has not yet committed to Ukraine having an equal seat at the table.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the ... [+]
Key Facts
Zelensky “will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine” if Ukraine does not participate in those negotiations, the Ukrainian president told “Meet the Press” in an interview that aired Sunday.
His comments come after Trump announced Wednesday he had a “lengthy and very productive” phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his administration will “immediately” start negotiations on ending the war.
Trump has said Ukraine will have a seat at the negotiating table but did not commit to saying the country will be “an equal member in the peace process,” NBC anchor Kristen Welker noted, and Zelensky said he had not been invited to planned meetings in Saudi Arabia between top Trump officials and Russian negotiators about the war.
“I'm sure that we have to be there,” Zelensky said about any negotiations, adding, “Otherwise, [any deal is] not acceptable.”
The Ukrainian leader said while he “count[s] on” Trump negotiating with Russia in good faith, he does not believe Putin will negotiate in good faith, arguing the Russian leader wants a temporary pause to the war so that he can better “prepare” and “train” Russian troops for a future re-invasion.
While he thinks the U.S. has “some ideas” for what a future deal on ending the Ukraine-Russia war could look like, Zelensky said he doesn’t think the Trump administration has a “real plan” for its negotiations, “because they can't have it without [Ukraine].”
Crucial Quote
While Ukraine is “thankful for all the support” it has received from the U.S., “there is not any leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us about us,” Zelensky told NBC News.
What Could A Future Ukraine-Russia Deal Look Like?
It’s still unclear what any final deal on the Russia-Ukraine war will look like, as there are still a number of sticking points on both sides, and the Trump administration is increasingly shutting down Ukraine’s demands. Ukraine has asked for security assurances from the U.S. that the country will continue to have defense mechanisms to protect itself against future invasions—but Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said the U.S. will not send troops to Ukraine after a war ends. Zelensky told NBC News he does not believe Ukraine could be secure from a future Russian invasion without the U.S.’ involvement, saying it would be “very, very difficult” for Ukraine to survive without U.S. military support, and the country “will have low chance, low chance to survive without support of the United States.” Ukraine has also argued it should be accepted into NATO as a condition of any settlement with Russia, which Moscow has opposed and Hegseth said he doesn’t believe is a “realistic outcome.” The Trump administration has also rebuffed Ukraine’s suggestion that territory Russia has already seized should be returned to the country, with Hegseth saying in February that restoring Ukraine to its previous borders is an “unrealistic objective.” Speaking with NBC, Zelensky said Ukraine “will never” recognize areas of the country Russia has seized, like Crimea, as being Russian. The president said that while he wants a “diplomatic way” to have Ukraine’s seized territory returned, however, Ukraine’s “people are most important for today.” Trump has also suggested Ukraine would likely not get everything it wanted out of any deal he brokers with Putin, saying Tuesday Ukraine “may make a deal, they may not make a deal.” “They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday,” Trump continued.
What Happens If The U.s. Leaves Nato?
Zelensky also made a bold prediction to NBC News based on the possibility that Trump could pull the U.S. out of NATO, the international military alliance that operates based on the understanding that a military attack on one member nation is an attack on them all, and they must lend military support. The U.S. pulling out of NATO would be the “destroying of NATO,” Zelensky claimed to NBC, arguing that if Trump were to pull the U.S. out of the alliance, “The risk that Russia will occupy Europe is 100%.” The Russian military will “get all the successes with all the territory they will want” if the U.S. leaves NATO, Zelensky predicted, given that if NATO disintegrates, each country will now have to “defend itself” rather than having the full force of all NATO allies behind them. Russia would likely start by invading smaller countries near Russia that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, Zelensky suggested, noting intelligence he’s received suggesting Russia is preparing military exercises near Belarus similar to the ones it undertook before the country invaded Ukraine.
Key Background
Russia’s war against Ukraine is coming up on its third anniversary, after the war first broke out in February 2022. The Biden administration was a staunch supporter of Ukraine and strongly denounced Putin while levying sanctions on Russia and sending millions of dollars’ worth of aid and military support to Ukraine. Republicans have become increasingly critical of sending U.S. resources and taxpayer funds to Ukraine, however, including Trump, who also said ahead of the presidential election he believes Ukraine should have made more concessions to Russia in order to prevent the war. Trump’s overtures to Putin and decision to start negotiations comes after the president claimed on the campaign trail he would end the war if elected, and that the war would not have broken out had he been reelected in 2020. Trump has long drawn controversy for his praise of Putin and his strongman leadership, referring to the Russian president in 2022 as a “genius.”
