The United States has made its offer of security guarantees for a peace deal in Ukraine conditional on Kyiv ceding all of the country’s eastern Donbas region to Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky told Reuters.
“With the Middle East definitely having an impact on President Trump, I think on his next steps… unfortunately, in my opinion, he still chooses a strategy to put more pressure on the Ukrainian side,” Zelensky said, highlighting the effect of the US focus on its conflict with Iran.
Zelensky warns Donbas withdrawal would compromise security
Zelensky stressed that robust security guarantees from international partners were essential to ensure Russia could not restart hostilities in the future, if a peace deal were agreed.
“The Americans are prepared to finalise these guarantees at a high level once Ukraine is ready to withdraw from Donbas,” he told the news outlet.
“Such a withdrawal would compromise the security of both Ukraine and, by extension, Europe, because it would cede the region’s strong defensive positions to Russia.”
The Ukrainian President noted that Russia has consistently demanded territory in Donbas still under Ukrainian control and is “betting Washington would lose interest in the talks and walk away.”
Progress and challenges in security guarantees
Zelensky said that a security guarantees document between Ukraine and the US was “100% ready” in January and awaiting signature. However, following recent talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Miami, he indicated that “there was still work to be done.”
Patriot missile supplies continue amid Iran conflict
Despite heightened US military focus on the Gulf, Zelensky thanked the Trump administration for maintaining shipments of Patriot missile defence systems, critical for intercepting Russian ballistic missiles.
“We were not stopped from deliveries. I’m very grateful to President Trump, and to his team,” Zelensky said. “But this supply of Patriot missiles is not as large as we need.”
