Zelenskyy names Türkiye for Maritime security, accuses Moscow of sabotage

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he wants Türkiye inclusion in the provision of security guarantees for his nation in the event of a ceasefire deal.

He made this known at a joint press conference with Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General in Kyiv on Friday, explaining that Türkiye would handle maritime security. 

The security guarantees which he said had been earlier agreed upon was one which he likened to NATO’s article 5. 

"This is the beginning of a big undertaking, and it is not easy, because guarantees consist of what our partners can give Ukraine, as well as what the Ukrainian army should be like, and where we can find opportunities for the army to maintain its strength," Zelenskiy said.

This comes a week after Trump and Putin met in Anchorage Alaska where no concrete deal was agreed upon. 

Zelensky further accused Moscow of sabotage saying that they were doing everything to prevent  peace talks with his Russian counterpart present.

He urged his allies to place further sanctions on Russia if it shows no interest in peace, calling on them to put Russia into "at least a minimally productive position".

Earlier in the week, Russian foreign minister Serget Lavrov had called any peace meeting where Russian wasn’t involved a “road to nowhere”. 

Mark Rutte for his part reassured Ukraine of its unwavering support and “unmistakable force” to ensure that Russia upholds any deal that would be made and not take one square meter of Ukraine. 

This comes after the Polish defence minister held a press conference where he accused Russia of provoking NATO allied countries after a drone exploded in a corn field in the country’s eastern village of Osiny, near the Ukraine border.

Despite not reaching an agreement with President Putin on ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine, peace talks have been heating up with a meeting in washington between President Trump with Zelenskyy and European leaders on Monday. 

Another meeting with the "coalition of the willing" was also held in London co-chaired by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. 

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