Zelenskyy calls for security guarantees and accelerated diplomacy to end war

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in his evening address on Monday that Ukraine urgently needs security guarantees to achieve a "real and fair peace."

“Today, at the staff meeting, we addressed some special issues concerning our state’s resilience. We are working through all possible scenarios to protect Ukraine.

The primary scenario is to maintain our positions and create conditions for proper diplomacy, ensuring that this war ends as soon as possible with a decent peace. We need peace, real, fair peace, not an endless war. And we need security guarantees,” Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian leader emphasized that the lack of security guarantees over the past 11 years has contributed to Russia’s aggression.

“The lack of security guarantees for Ukraine 11 years ago allowed Russia to begin with the occupation of Crimea and the war in Donbas. Later, the absence of security guarantees enabled Russia to launch a full-scale invasion. And now, due to the lack of clear security guarantees, Russia is keeping this war ongoing. The whole world sees this, and the whole world acknowledges it,” he noted.

Zelenskyy also highlighted ongoing diplomatic efforts to establish a new security architecture for Ukraine and Europe.

"Today, we continued our work with European partners on a special diplomatic and security architecture, an architecture that can bring peace closer. This is something we discussed in London recently and before that with many world leaders. Ukraine, all of Europe, and America, together, we can ensure decades of stability. To achieve this, we must be constructive, work together, complement each other’s proposals, and accelerate diplomacy to end the war," he stated.

Zelenskyy attended a weekend meeting with Ukraine’s European allies to discuss potential solutions for ending the war. This came just two days after his talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House ended in tense exchanges.

Meanwhile, Trump announced on Monday that he would provide an update on the Ukraine minerals deal on Tuesday (March 4) night. He also remarked that Zelenskyy should be more appreciative of Washington’s support. 

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