Zelensky Orders Finalization of US Security Guarantees Document, Cautions Moscow Still Wants War

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that he had instructed Ukraine’s negotiating team to finalize a document on US security guarantees for Ukraine to be reviewed “at the highest level.”

Zelensky said he had been briefed by Kyiv’s negotiators and that “a lot has been done,” noting that a schedule for further meetings with representatives of US President Donald Trump was being put in place, though he did not elaborate further.

The president added that the documents hammered out by both parties “are largely ready for signing.”

Trump sounded similarly optimistic as he spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, telling them “we are making progress toward stopping [the war].”

However, a senior Western diplomat told Kyiv Post yesterday that “there is movement, but no one should confuse momentum with resolution... the political signals are real. The endgame is not.”

On Monday, Zelensky also touched on economic agreements, saying that government officials needed to “promptly analyze each of the documents” to ensure “that all the interests of Ukraine are fully taken into account.”

“We are also working to create effective mechanisms for financing recovery that are fair for Ukraine,” he added.

Zelensky said in December that the government was developing three major lines of effort to end the war, including a plan for reconstruction and investment and security guarantees.

Other Topics of Interest

Former US Navy Pilot Exposes Russian ‘Civilian Safari in Ukraine’ with drones

Former US Navy pilot and filmmaker Ken Harbaugh discusses with Kyiv Post his documentary Drone Hunters of Kherson, which follows Ukrainian UAV operators risking their lives to intercept Russian FPV drones targeting civilians in the frontline city. He argues that Russia’s drone campaign against Kherson’s residents is both a “deliberate terror tactic” and a warning of the future of warfare, with lessons the West cannot afford to ignore.

While Kyiv has been intensifying daily contact with Washington and moving to rally its European allies in an effort to accelerate a diplomatic solution to the war, Moscow has remained tight-lipped about US-brokered efforts.

However, on Thursday it dubbed Ukraine and its European backers an “axis of war” and described key security guarantees agreed for Kyiv at a summit in Paris as unacceptable, reiterating belligerent rhetoric dubbing European peacekeepers in Ukraine a “legitimate target” for Moscow’s military.

Zelensky cautioned on Monday that “although the diplomacy of Ukraine, America and partners has been extremely active for several months... Russian behavior and rhetoric do not at all indicate that they want to end the war or are preparing for it.”

“It depends solely on the partners, primarily the United States of America and the President of the United States, what Russia will choose: peace or further war,” he explained, urging Kyiv’s allies to maintain pressure on Moscow.