Zelensky says no peace deal without Ukraine involvement
Getty ImagesUkraine will not agree to any peace deal proposed by the US and Russia without its involvement, President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned, after Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin pledged to begin talks to end the war.
"We cannot accept it, as an independent country," Zelensky said.
The US president had talked of a "good possibility" of ending the war after he and Putin spoke by phone. It was not "practical" for Ukraine to join Nato, Trump said, and "unlikely" it could return to its pre-invasion borders.
He has now suggested that Russian respresentatives will meet Americans on Friday in Munich, which is hosting a security conference.
"Russia is going to be there with our people," Trump said. "Ukraine is also invited, by the way. Not sure exactly who's going to be there from any country but high-level people from Russia, from Ukraine and from the United States.
"I'd love to have them [the Russians] back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out. Look, it's not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia."
Russia, which is not taking part in the annual forum, did not immediately comment on Trump's claim.
Zelensky adviser Dmytro Lytvyn told reporters that "talks with Russians in Munich" were "not expected".
Zelensky is to meet Trump's Vice-President, JD Vance, in the German city on Friday.
The Ukrainian leader, who also had an individual call with Trump on Wednesday, said his country could not accept "any agreements [made] without us".
"Europeans needed to be at the negotiating table too," he said, and he told Trump his priority was "security guarantees", something he did not see without US support.
Elsewhere, he said that Nato membership for Ukraine would be the "most cost-effective" option for its partners, without giving details.
"I also warned world leaders against trusting Putin's claims of readiness to end the war," he added.
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Ukraine's European allies also rejected any move towards a forced settlement on Kyiv.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey said there could be "no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine, and Ukraine's voice must be at the heart of any talks".
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected a "dictated peace" and his defence minister said it was "regrettable" Washington was already making "concessions" to the Kremlin.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas accused Washington of "appeasement" towards Russia.
"We shouldn't take anything off the table before the negotiations have even started because it plays to Russia's court and it is what they want," she said.
EPATrump, who made the first publicly acknowledged White House call with Putin since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, said he would meet Putin in Saudi Arabia. without giving details.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in the Oval Office, he said Putin wanted the war to end and he expected a ceasefire soon.
When asked if Ukraine was an equal member in the peace process, he said: "They have to make peace."
His Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told a press conference at a Nato summit on Thursday that peace negotiations would be "had with both" Putin and Zelensky" and he described Trump as the "perfect dealmaker".
Hegseth, who on Wednesday said it was "unrealistic" to expect Ukraine to return to pre-2014 border and downplayed the prospect of Ukraine joining Nato, appeared to row back on his remarks, saying "everything was on the table" and the conversations were being led by the president.
The defence secretary also suggested financial aid to Ukraine during negotiations could be on the table, as well as US troop numbers in Europe.
Following the overthrow of Ukraine's pro-Russian president in 2014, Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and backed pro-Russian separatists in bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine.
The conflict burst into all-out war nearly three years ago.
Moscow's attempts to take control of the capital Kyiv were thwarted, but Russian forces have taken around a fifth of Ukraine's territory in the east and south, and have carried out air strikes across the country.
Ukraine has retaliated with artillery and drone strikes, as well as a ground offensive against Russia's western Kursk region.