Ukraine’s security comes first, and Russia’s demands may be discussed only later, in a future settlement. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not accepting Moscow’s terms. He is denying Russia the right to decide Ukraine’s fate before the war itself and Kyiv’s protection are addressed.
The Order Matters
As the Financial Times reports, Zelenskyy said Western countries could eventually examine the questions Moscow raises about its security. He rejected Russia’s answers. He said the war must be dealt with first, alongside Ukraine’s own security. Moscow’s preferred “guarantees” have included limits on NATO and on the sovereign choices of its neighbours.
Three months before the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Vladimir Putin demanded a halt to further NATO enlargement, the withdrawal of troops and equipment from countries bordering Russia, and restrictions on deployments and exercises. European governments rejected those proposals as an intrusion on their sovereignty. Zelenskyy is acknowledging that Russia’s demand is longstanding. He is denying Moscow a right to rewrite Europe’s security order.
Ukraine’s security comes first. Russia’s demands may be discussed in a future settlement. They cannot be used to decide Ukraine’s fate before the war itself and Kyiv’s protection are addressed.
Europe Must Have a Seat
Zelenskyy drew a line between preliminary discussion and actual guarantees. Ukraine and Russia could discuss broad principles with American mediation. But if talks move to security guarantees that require European participation, Europe must be part of those talks. Washington cannot negotiate obligations for European states while those states wait outside the room.
Guarantees for Russia can only be treated as a messy counterpart to guarantees for Ukraine for this reason as well. Zelenskyy warned that guarantees as Moscow understands them would change the security framework of Europe and the wider world. The question is what powers Russia wants that word to give it over other countries.
The Abu Dhabi Talks
Zelenskyy spoke hours after Finland’s President Alexander Stubb and Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store talked with Putin. He said they came away with the impression that Moscow was serious about the planned Abu Dhabi talks between Ukrainian, Russian and American teams.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov mocked the Nordic leaders’ efforts to enter the negotiating process and said the Putin calls covered nothing new. That contrast makes Kyiv’s sequencing and Europe’s place in the talks more consequential, not less.
