KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked international allies for their support but said questions remain about Ukraine’s future security.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Zelensky repeatedly thanked the United States and European allies for helping Ukraine by providing air defense systems to protect infrastructure such as power plants and “save lives.”
Previous U.S.-led efforts to agree on an end to the war, as well as two recent rounds of talks in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, have failed to resolve thorny issues such as the future of Ukraine’s industrial hub of Donbass, which is largely occupied by Russian forces.
Later, in an interview with reporters, Zelensky questioned how the concept of a free trade zone proposed by the United States would work in the Donbas region, which Russia insists Kyiv must abandon in order to achieve peace.
He also said that the Americans hope to achieve peace as soon as possible, and the American team hopes to sign all agreements on Ukraine at the same time, while Ukraine hopes to first sign guarantees for the country’s future security.
European countries, including Britain and France, have said they will send troops to Ukraine to ensure its future security. The United States is also expected to be involved, and discussions are ongoing over the nature of U.S. support.
Zelensky said Russian officials opposed any foreign troops stationing in Ukraine because Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted the chance to attack Ukraine again.
Zelensky also said he was surprised that Moscow changed the head of its negotiating team ahead of another round of U.S.-brokered talks, suggesting the move was a deliberate delay.
The talks come amid ongoing fighting along some 1,250 kilometers (750 miles) of front lines, Russia’s relentless bombing of civilian areas in Ukraine and the country’s power grid, and near-daily long-range drone attacks by Kyiv on war-related assets in Russia.
During the negotiations, Russian officials insisted that Ukraine give up more territory in the east of the country to end the war. But Zelensky told The Associated Press that suggesting Ukraine withdraw its troops from its own territory or exchange territory is “a little crazy.”
Thousands of Ukrainians have been killed while defending the country’s Donbass region, he said, noting that 200,000 people also live there and that effectively handing them over to Russia is unacceptable.
Zelensky also questioned how the concept of free economic zones would work.
“Imagine,” he said, if foreign soldiers were patrolling the area and Putin angered them and they left. In such a scenario, Ukraine could be subject to a “massive occupation” and cause massive losses, he said.
If Putin has any chance of winning, “we don’t know what he will do next,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky told The Associated Press that this pattern poses “huge risks” for Ukraine and any country working to ensure Ukraine’s security. But he said he was ready to discuss the issue because it could be important as a compromise in exchange for support in rebuilding Ukraine.
Zelensky said that during the negotiations, Moscow must accept ceasefire supervision and return about 7,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war in exchange for more than 4,000 Russian prisoners of war held in Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials said a drone strike early Saturday killed one person in Ukraine and one in Russia, ahead of new talks aimed at ending the war in Geneva next week.
Ukraine’s national emergency service said a Russian drone hit a residential building in the Black Sea port city of Odessa, killing an elderly woman.
Alexander Bogomaz, governor of Russia’s Bryansk region, said a Ukrainian drone attacked a car in the border area of Bryansk, Russia, killing a civilian.
Ukraine launched an airstrike on a village in Ukraine’s partially occupied Luhansk region on Saturday, wounding 15 people, Russian-appointed authorities said.
The attack came a day after Ukrainian missiles struck the Russian border city of Belgorod, killing two people and wounding five others, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Gradkov.
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Barros reported from Munich, Germany, and Morton reported from London.
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