Eurasia Press & News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reacted sharply to U.S. President Donald Trump’s agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin negotiations to end the war with Ukraine, saying he won’t accept any deals made without Ukraine’s involvement.
Trump’s call on February 12 is seen as part of the White House’s aim to move quickly toward ending the almost 3-year-old war, and “certainly not a betrayal” of Kyiv, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on February 13.
But news of the 90-minute phone call between the two leaders sent shockwaves across Europe, where leaders bitterly complained of seemingly being cut out of the process.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine cannot “allow everything to go according to Putin’s plan” and cannot accept any agreements made without it. Speaking during a visit to a nuclear power station in western Ukraine, he said he wanted to “articulate this very clearly to our partners.”
Trump said later on February 13 at the White House that Ukraine would have a seat at the table during any peace negotiations with Russia.
Trump said again that he believes Putin “wants peace” and would “like to see something happen,” but Zelenskyy warned against putting any trust Putin’s claims of readiness to end the war.
The Ukrainian leader said he wanted the United States to agree a “plan to stop Putin” before any negotiations.
Trump also repeated his criticism that former President Joe Biden had invited the conflict by assuring Ukraine it would eventually join NATO.
Trump told reporters that Putin was encouraged to invade Ukraine because he sensed U.S. and NATO weakness after the chaotic withdrawal of allied troops from Afghanistan in 2021. Trump also said Russia’s expulsion from the Group of Eight leading industrialized countries after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014 was another key factor in forcing Putin’s hand.
Russia’s full-scale invasion, launched in February 2022, is seen by the majority of nations in the world as an unprovoked and illegal act of aggression designed to grab land and and do away with the Ukrainian state and its democracy.
‘I Think They Have To Make Peace’
Trump announced his call on February 12 in a post on Truth Social that said he and Putin “agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations. We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately.”
He spoke further about his plans later at the White House, telling reporters: “I think we’re on the way to getting peace.”
In a blow to Ukraine’s stated goals to join NATO and push Russia out of all parts of Ukraine it occupies, Hegseth told NATO allies in Brussels on February 12 that it is “unrealistic” to expect Ukraine’s borders to revert to 2014 and said NATO membership is not seen by the White House as part of the solution to the conflict.
Trump also said giving Ukraine NATO membership would not be “practical.”
The comments are some of the clearest indications from the new Trump administration of how the president intends to fulfill his election campaign promise to swiftly end the war, but some observers said it was a poor strategy to lay the groundwork for negotiations by granting terms favorable to Russia.
Oxana Shevel, a professor of political science at Tufts University, told RFE/RL that Ukraine had already reckoned that its hopes of joining NATO would be off the table in a negotiation process to end the war.
But she warned that it would be a bigger deal if Putin tried to convince Trump to rollback NATO’s declaration on Ukraine’s “irreversible path” to membership.
“Putin would love to have that,” Shevel said, adding that she could not imagine that would go down well with the European NATO countries.
Shevel also said it’s a “bad negotiating strategy” to allow concessions even before talks begin but said, based on statements thus far, it’s too hard to know what exactly will be at stake.
Speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels on February 13 during a meeting of defense ministers from the alliance’s 32 members, U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said “Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks.”
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius added: “For me, it’s clear … that Europe must be involved in the negotiations — and I think that’s very easy to understand.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters at a meeting at NATO headquarters on February 13 that any agreement must involve Ukraine and Europe.
“Any deal behind our backs will not work,” she said.
Hegseth, who is also attending the meeting, was quick to defend Trump’s initiative, saying “there is a recognition that the whole world and the United States is invested and interested in peace. A negotiated peace.”
“That will require both sides recognizing things they don’t want to,” he added.
Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula, and its forces have been pushing forward in the eastern Donbas region for months, albeit at a massive cost, while pounding civilian targets nationwide.
Hegseth, who is on his first foreign trip since being confirmed late last month, has stressed in recent days that Ukraine should prepare for a negotiated peace settlement and that Europe must provide the “overwhelming share” of aid to Ukraine.
A settlement can be backed up by international troops but, Hegseth said U.S. forces would not be part of any security guarantee in a peace settlement.
Key Munich Conference
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is nearing its three-year mark later this month and diplomacy is heating up ahead of the February 14-16 Munich Security Conference, which Zelenskyy and senior U.S. officials plan to attend.
In another diplomatic push, Zelenskyy met in Kyiv on February 12 with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to discuss a potential deal on Ukraine’s critical minerals and said he hopes the two countries can reach an agreement on the matter at the conference in Munich.
Trump has said the United States wants access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.
Bessent presented Zelenskyy with an initial draft agreement and said a deal on the minerals could leave Ukraine with a “security shield” once the war with Russia is over.
Zelenskyy has stressed that strong Western security guarantees for Ukraine with U.S. involvement are crucial to any deal to end the war.
Trump said that he expects to meet Putin, probably in Saudi Arabia, saying it would take place “in the not too distant future.”
He added that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would also be involved.
