Zelenskyy Says Kyiv Is Asked Too Often for Concessions Ahead of Geneva Talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the Munich Security Conference that Kyiv is asked too often to make concessions in U.S.-brokered talks with Russia, and he pressed allies for firm security guarantees, according to Al Jazeera, NBC News and India Tribune.

“Too often those concessions are discussed in the context only of Ukraine, not Russia,” he said, according to NBC News; Al Jazeera and India Tribune reported the same remark in slightly different wording. Asked by moderator Christiane Amanpour whether he felt pressure from President Donald Trump, who had urged him on Friday to “get moving,” Zelenskyy replied, “A little bit,” NBC News reported. Al Jazeera likewise reported that he acknowledged feeling some pressure.

A third round of talks among Russia, Ukraine and the United States is set for Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 17-18, according to CBS News, Al Jazeera and India Tribune. CBS News called it the first session on European soil, after two rounds in Abu Dhabi. Russia’s delegation will be led by Vladimir Medinsky, replacing military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov, who led in Abu Dhabi, according to CBS News, Al Jazeera and India Tribune. NBC News reported that the three countries held their first trilateral talks in January.

Territory is the central obstacle. NBC News reported that the main issue is the future of eastern Ukraine, that the Kremlin said in January that Kyiv’s forces would have to withdraw from the region for any deal, and that Russia occupies about 20 percent of Ukraine while polls show most Ukrainians oppose handing over land. Al Jazeera and the Kyiv Independent specified that Russia demands Ukraine fully withdraw from the parts of Donetsk it still controls, while Ukraine rejects a unilateral pullback and wants Western guarantees against a renewed invasion. Both also reported that the United States offered a 15-year security guarantee and that Ukraine wants 20 years or more.

In his main speech Zelenskyy compared concessions to the 1938 Munich Agreement, according to Al Jazeera and the Kyiv Independent, and warned that ending the war by dividing Ukraine would be “an illusion,” according to NBC News, Al Jazeera and the Kyiv Independent. NBC News quoted him saying that without clear security guarantees “war always returns.” He also argued that Europe should have a seat at the negotiating table, Al Jazeera and the Kyiv Independent reported, and NBC News said he called for a real common European defense policy.

NBC News reported that Zelenskyy also met a bipartisan group of U.S. senators in Munich, where they discussed security guarantees and sanctions on Russia.