Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would agree to meet in person with Russian leader Vladimir Putin only after discussing a joint plan with United States President Donald Trump.
President Zelensky believes that his US counterpart Trump has a key role in ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He added that the US President gave him his mobile phone number before the opening of the Munich Security Conference on Friday.
President Trump this week reversed previous US policy of support for Ukraine, following a phone call with Russian President Putin.
President Zelensky met with US Vice President JD Vance on Friday. Many analysts, especially in Europe, hope that Mr. Vance will shed some more light on Mr. Trump's ideas for achieving a negotiated solution to the war in Ukraine.
In his speech at the Munich conference, Vice President Vance lectured European officials on free speech and illegal migration on the continent. He warned European officials that they risk losing public support if they do not change course quickly.
"If you are afraid of your voters, America cannot save you," said Vice President Vance.
Mr. Vance's speech, and the mention of the three-year war in Ukraine, came at a time of intense concern and uncertainty over the Trump administration's foreign policy.
"Washington now has a new leader. Under the leadership of Donald Trump, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to protect your right to say it publicly," Vice President Vance said as the audience applauded.
The vice president also warned European officials against illegal migration, saying the electorate did not vote to open “the floodgates to millions of unverified immigrants.” He referred to an attack on Thursday in Munich, where the suspect was identified as a 24-year-old Afghan who arrived in Germany as an asylum seeker in 2016.
Over 30 people were injured during the incident and it appears to have been motivated by Islamic extremism.
NATO defense spending
On Friday, Vice President Vance held separate meetings with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. During the meetings, he reiterated the new US administration’s call for NATO members to spend more on defense. Currently, 23 of NATO’s 32 member countries have met the Western military alliance’s target of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense.
"We want to make sure that NATO is truly built for the future. That's achieved when we make sure that NATO will share a little more of the burden with Europe so that the United States can focus on some of our challenges in East Asia," Vice President Vance said during the meeting with Mr. Rutte.
The NATO Secretary General said he agreed that Europe should increase defense spending. "In that sense, we need to grow and spend much more," he said.
Ukraine's bid to join NATO
President Trump’s statements have left Europeans in a quandary, wondering how or even if they can maintain the post-World War II security that NATO provided them. Another issue is whether they can fill the gap of billions of dollars in security assistance that former President Biden’s administration provided to Ukraine since the beginning of Russian aggression in February 2022.
President Trump has been highly skeptical of this aid and is expected to cut or limit it as negotiations begin in the coming days.
Both President Trump and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week dashed Ukraine's hopes of joining NATO. On the issue, almost a year ago the North Atlantic alliance said it was an "irreversible" process, as was the return of its territory occupied by Russia, which currently controls about 20%, including Crimea.
"I don't see any way that a country like Russia would allow ... them to join NATO," President Trump said Thursday. "I don't see that happening."
President Zelensky, in his speech during the conference, said that the United States, including President Biden's administration, never saw Ukraine as a potential NATO member.
Possible sanctions against Russia
US Vice President JD Vance, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, said that the United States would hit Moscow with sanctions and potentially military action if Russian President Putin did not agree to a peace deal with Ukraine that guarantees Kiev's long-term independence.
The warning that military strikes "are possible" is considered striking language from a Trump administration official who has repeatedly stressed a desire to end the war.
Mr. Vance's team later denied the newspaper's claim.
Zelensky will not accept agreements made without Ukraine
The US guarantees may have somewhat allayed President Zelensky's fears. However, they will not replace the lost military or economic support that President Joe Biden's administration had provided.
The Ukrainian leader admitted Thursday that it was “not very pleasant” that President Trump spoke with President Putin first. However, he said the main issue was “not to let everything go according to Putin’s plan.”
"We cannot accept, as an independent country, any agreement (made) without us," President Zelensky said as he visited a nuclear power plant in western Ukraine.
European turning point
The path that President Trump is pursuing has shocked Europe, just as his dismissive comments about France and Germany did during his first term.
French Deputy Foreign Minister Benjamin Haddad described Europe as at a turning point. He added that Europe must abandon its reliance on the United States for its security. He warned that giving Russia victory in Ukraine could have consequences in Asia as well.
"I think we don't understand enough the extent to which the world is changing. Both our adversaries and our allies are preoccupied with this issue," Minister Haddad told the France Info network on Thursday. VOA (A2 Televizion)
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