The Ukraine peace deal remains dependent on long-term American security guarantees, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, warning that Kyiv cannot sign any agreement with Russia unless the United States commits to protecting Ukraine’s security for at least two decades.
Speaking in Munich ahead of high-stakes talks involving Ukraine, Russia, and the US scheduled for next week, Zelenskyy said Ukraine wants security guarantees for a minimum of 20 years from Washington before it can agree to peace “with dignity”.
He also renewed calls for a clear date for Ukraine to be allowed to join the European Union, arguing that political and military security must go hand in hand.
Addressing the annual Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy acknowledged the importance of upcoming diplomacy but questioned whether all parties were aligned in their expectations. He said he hoped “the trilateral meetings next week will be serious, substantive, helpful for all of us but, honestly, sometimes it feels like the sides are talking about completely different things”.
A central concern for Kyiv, he explained, is the repeated emphasis on Ukrainian concessions. “The Americans often return to the topic of concessions and too often those concessions are discussed only in the context of Ukraine, not Russia,” he said, underscoring his belief that peace cannot be built on one-sided compromises.
Security guarantees and transatlantic strain.
Zelenskyy’s remarks highlighted what many European officials see as the deepest fracture in relations between the US and Europe since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
European leaders remain frustrated by what they describe as Washington’s reluctance to clearly spell out the security guarantees it is prepared to offer Ukraine in the event of a peace deal.
According to diplomats, the insistence that guarantees can be finalised after an agreement is signed has fuelled mistrust, particularly as Kyiv argues that only firm, pre-agreed commitments can prevent future Russian aggression.
The question of guarantees, and whether they will be legally binding, has become the defining issue hanging over the Ukraine peace deal.
In Munich, this tension was evident even as US officials sought to reassure European allies. In a speech welcomed by leaders eager to see any sign of a thaw, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, offered to work in partnership with Europe and stressed the importance of transatlantic unity.
Using a notably diplomatic tone, Rubio said “Europe and the US belong together”. He added that the US was ready to undertake the task of rebuilding the world order alone if necessary, but “we prefer it – and hope – to do it together with you, our friends in Europe”.
However, Rubio made clear that cooperation would be conditional. He stressed that Washington would go it alone if its demands on climate policy, migration, and tariffs were not met, a stance that some European officials privately described as highly Trumpian.
Rubio’s approach contrasted with that of the US vice-president, JD Vance, whose confrontational speech at the conference a year earlier had unsettled European leaders.
Despite the warmer rhetoric this time, Rubio made almost no reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, apart from claiming that the US had pressed India to stop importing Russian oil, a claim that Moscow disputes.
Donbas, concessions, and limits to compromise
At a press conference in Munich, Zelenskyy revealed details of recent US proposals that Ukraine has firmly rejected. He said Washington had told him that if Ukraine withdrew from the Donbas, peace would come as quickly as possible. Zelenskyy insisted this concession was impossible, stressing that Ukrainians live in the region and cannot simply abandon their homes.
He disclosed that the US had so far offered a 15-year security guarantee, but Ukraine was demanding a minimum of 20 years, backed by a legally watertight agreement.
Such a deal, he said, must clearly set out the specific help the US would provide to a planned European reassurance force that would be deployed inside Ukraine if a peace agreement is reached.
Zelenskyy also said that details of a so-called prosperity plan, under which the US would gain access to Ukrainian mineral resources, had not yet been exchanged. He questioned why the head of the Russian negotiation delegation had recently been changed, saying he feared the move indicated that Moscow was playing for time rather than altering its strategy.
Another point of contention, Zelenskyy said, was Europe’s limited role in the talks so far. “That’s a big mistake, in my opinion,” he said, a view shared by China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, who has also called for broader international involvement in peace efforts.
Pressure from Washington and the election question
On Friday, US president Donald Trump publicly urged Zelenskyy to “get moving” to reach an agreement with Russia, increasing pressure on Kyiv to accept a deal within months.
Zelenskyy pushed back against calls for rapid concessions, particularly regarding domestic political timelines. He said the elections that the US has pressed Ukraine to hold by 15 May could only take place two months after a ceasefire is declared, in order to ensure that voters have adequate security.
Trump, Zelenskyy said, has been trying to force Ukraine’s hand without spelling out the consequences if Kyiv refuses to show greater flexibility. This uncertainty, Ukrainian officials argue, only reinforces the need for firm guarantees before any Ukraine peace deal is signed.
War fatigue and grim assessments
Zelenskyy said Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy plants would be raised during upcoming talks in Geneva, noting that not a single energy facility in Ukraine had been left unscathed. European leaders, he added, appear increasingly gloomy about the prospects for a swift diplomatic breakthrough.
The prevailing view among officials is that Russian president Vladimir Putin is not yet economically or militarily exhausted. Zelenskyy said his ambition was to lift the number of Russians killed or seriously injured to 50,000 a month, a stark reflection of how Kyiv sees sustained military pressure as a key lever in negotiations.
One European leader predicted at least another two years of war, insisting that Europe still has the resources to sustain Ukraine for that duration if necessary.
Iran, drones, and wider conflicts
Zelenskyy also launched a fierce attack on the Iranian regime for supplying Shahed drones to Russia, weapons he said had caused extensive damage across Ukraine.
With as many as 200,000 protesters attending a demonstration in Munich calling for Iran’s leadership to be toppled, Zelenskyy linked Ukraine’s struggle to broader global security challenges.
“We have never had a conflict of interests with the Iranian regime,” he said. “But the Iranian Shahed drones they sold to Russia are killing our people and destroying our infrastructure.”
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He warned against giving Tehran time to continue its policies. “Regimes like the one in Iran must not be given time. When they have time, they only kill more. They must be stopped immediately, and this is exactly what should have happened with the Ayatollah after all the wars his regime unleashed and all the lives it took.”
An uncertain path to peace
As diplomacy intensifies, Zelenskyy’s message in Munich was clear: without binding, long-term security guarantees from the US and a defined European future, Ukraine will not sign a deal that merely pauses the conflict.
For Kyiv, the Ukraine peace deal is not just about ending fighting, but about ensuring that any peace achieved cannot be undone. Whether Washington and its allies are prepared to meet those demands may determine not only the outcome of the talks, but the future security architecture of Europe itself.
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