In a hectic day in Munich, the president of Ukraine highlighted the support that European countries provide in the war with Russia, although he raised questions about future security guarantees for his country. He also took aim at the American leader for demanding concessions only from kyiv in negotiations with Moscow.
First modification: 02/15/2026 - 02:10
This Saturday, February 14, Volodymyr Zelensky had a busy agenda in Munich. First, he appeared before the audience of the Security Conference, a forum in which he attempted to draw attention to the security guarantees that Ukraine needs in any future agreement to end the war with Russia.
In the evening, and in a more relaxed atmosphere, he received the Ewald von Kleist award, named after the founder of the Conference and which the organizers wanted to present to the "brave Ukrainian people" for their "defense of their freedom and the freedom of Europe." The Ukrainian president, representing his fellow citizens, thanked several of his European allies there for their support of his country's cause.
At the Conference, in a subsequent meeting with journalists and at the award ceremony, Zelensky took the opportunity to establish several positions.
Message to the United States
Zelensky referred to the pressure his country is under to reach a peace agreement with Russia in the tripartite negotiations in which Washington also participates.
In that sense, he stated that it is crazy to think about the idea that kyiv would hand over the Donbass region as part of the agreement. He also questioned the American idea of creating a free trade zone there.
"We can't just withdraw from our territory or exchange part of our territory. It's a bit crazy," he said at a press conference.
However, in his speech to the annual security forum, he expressed hope that the negotiations taking place in Geneva next week will be "serious, substantive and useful", although "honestly, sometimes it feels like the parties are talking about completely different things."
In turn, he criticized that Washington "too often" demands concessions from Ukraine to advance, but not from Russia.
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Likewise, the Ukrainian head of state repeated that Europe should have a place in trilateral talks to end the war with Russia. He acknowledged that he hoped Washington would include them in next week's round in Switzerland.
"Europe is practically not present at the table. It is a big mistake," he added.
Mistrust over negotiations under fire
For those talks to be held in Geneva, Russia put Vladimir Medinsky in charge, who serves as Putin's advisor and is of a lower level than Igor Kostyukov, head of military intelligence who was in the Abu Dhabi round.
This change "was a surprise," said Zelensky, who accused the Kremlin of making this move to delay the negotiations.
Among the security guarantees that he demands to reach any pact, the Ukrainian president detailed that Russia must accept a mission to monitor the ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners of war, which he estimated at 7,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Russian prisons and more than 4,000 Russians captured by Ukraine.
Zelenskiy also suggested that Moscow opposes the deployment of French and British troops to Ukraine after the war — something Paris and London have expressed willingness to do — because Russian President Vladimir Putin "wants the opportunity to return" to fighting.
Meanwhile, these tumultuous talks are taking place amid continued fighting along the front lines, relentless Russian bombing of Ukraine's civilian areas and the country's power grid, and near-daily long-range drone strikes by kyiv against Russian assets.
Precisely, this Saturday, drone attacks caused the death of one person in Ukraine and another in Russia: the Ukrainian emergency services reported that an elderly woman died as a result of the impact of a Russian drone on a residential building in Odessa; and a Russian civilian was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on a car in the Bryansk border region, according to regional governor Alexander Bogomaz.
Praise for European allies
After obtaining the Ewald von Kleist prize, which was presented at the Munich Residency palace, Zelensky dedicated a few words of gratitude to his European allies, among them the Spanish Pedro Sánchez.
"Thank you Pedro for uniting Spain in supporting Ukraine (...) I want to thank Ursula von der Leyen, who works with us as if we were already part of the European family," the Ukrainian stressed.
Likewise, Zelensky had warm words with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Italy, Keir Starmer and Giorgia Meloni.
Earlier, during the Conference, the Ukrainian president had repeatedly thanked Americans and Europeans for helping Ukraine by providing it with air defense systems that protect infrastructure such as power plants and "save lives."
With EFE, AP and Reuters
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