In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a ceasefire deal could be struck if Ukrainian territory he controls were to be taken “under the NATO umbrella”, allowing him to negotiate the return of the rest later “in a diplomatic way”.
Friday 29 November 2024 21:47, UK
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Chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay says he was recently in the Sumy region in eastern Ukraine and a Ukrainian soldier had told him that it felt like Russia’s allies were “fairly united” but Ukraine’s “appear to be falling apart”.
Volodymyr Zelenkskyy responds by saying “our allies are more in unity than his allies”.
He notes Iran gave Russia weapons and had “some position in the Middle East”.
And North Korea had given Russia troops.
“These are his real allies,” he adds.
China, he notes, is “more close” to Russia than not.
“But they didn’t give them weapons, this is the difference between China and Iran and China and North Korea,” he adds.
On NATO and potentially bringing an end to the war, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says membership would have to be offered to unoccupied parts of Ukraine in order to end the “hot phase of the war”.
This would work, he says, as long as the NATO invitation itself recognises Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders, appearing to mean the parts of the country occupied by Russia would fall outside such a deal for the time being.
“If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control,” he said
“We need to do it fast. And then on the [occupied] territory of Ukraine, Ukraine can get them back in a diplomatic way.”
Zelenskyy said a ceasefire was needed to “guarantee that Putin will not come back” to take more Ukrainian territory.
Asked about president-elect Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says “we have to work with the new president”.
“The US is our biggest supporter so for us it is very important,” he says.
The Ukrainian leader adds: “Of course we will work with Trump.
“I want to work with him directly because there are different voices around him.
“We need to not give anybody the chance to destroy our communication. It is not helpful and will be destructive.
“We have to find a new model.”
Asked if had already spoken to Trump, he says he spoke with the incoming US leader in September when he was in New York.
“It was very warm and good,” he adds.
But he says more meetings were now needed with a “real plan where Ukraine is strong”.
Ukraine’s president says Kyiv must be at the same level or stronger than Russia to enter into peace negotiations.
He says it won’t matter what city or country talks are held in or what leaders are present, so long as Ukraine is not in a weaker position than Moscow on the battlefield.
“It’s the minimum,” says Zelenskyy. “Really, we have to be stronger than him, but we have to be very strong, even at the same level with unity of the partners.
“They have to talk with us with a one voice policy. If we speak with Putin, it’s with a plan – we cannot give him the chance to give us an ultimatum.
“He can’t give us an ultimatum because he’s a killer, and he’s a terrorist, and he’s alone in my mind.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Ukraine’s allies speaking directly to Vladimir Putin is “like opening Pandora’s box”.
He says when world leaders are afraid, they communicate with their countries and other leaders and “divide the unity in Europe”.
“Putin understands this and fuels it like an animal,” he says.
Asked by chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay if it was unhelpful when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke directly with Putin last month, Zelenskyy says he didn’t support it.
“It wasn’t a surprise to me as he said he wants to speak and to understand what Putin is thinking about, but I said I cannot support this as it opens this new page – this Pandora’s box,” he says.
He says there are some world leaders who will only want to speak to Putin so they can be on the front pages of the newspapers.
“Don’t open Pandora’s box, because if you open it, other leaders will talk to him to be on the papers and say they can manage it with Putin,” he adds.
“No. You can’t manage with the killer if you’re weak. You can’t do it. For him, you are nothing. He respects only power, and you have to be very strong.”
The first question put to Volodymyr Zelenskyy is about the morale of Ukraine’s troops and whether the president feels his country is at risk of losing the war with Russia.
He says at the start of the war “everybody was sure” Ukraine would lose as it didn’t have “huge support” and it was not as weaponised as Russia.
“But the most important weapon is our people,” he says.
“And to lose our people, it doesn’t matter what kind of technology [you have], really – it’s nothing if you compare with our people. That’s why we can’t lose our people.
“I’m afraid to lose our people. The people are the most important because everything in this war of independence – it’s not for land, it’s people.
“A nation has land, and it’s a very important for your identity, but the people are the most important.”
You’ll shortly be able to watch our full interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
He spoke with chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay and the discussion will be shown on The World from 9pm.
You can watch live in the stream at the top of this page, or follow the key updates here in the blog.
Watch Sky News live for free on Sky channel 501, Virgin channel 602, Freeview channel 233, on the Sky News website and app or on YouTube.
The former US ambassador to NATO says Ukraine’s membership into the military alliance could move “very quickly” if a ceasefire deal is agreed.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says NATO membership would have to be offered to unoccupied parts of Ukraine in order to end the “hot phase of the war”, as long as the invitation itself recognises Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders (see 18.02 post).
Kurt Volker, a former envoy to Ukraine under Donald Trump, says having a ceasefire “largely in place” and receiving a promise from Kyiv that it will only seek to retake its territories diplomatically will mean NATO membership could happen “very quickly” for Ukraine.
He adds that 72-year-old Vladimir Putin “won’t be around another ten years from now” and that, once he is gone, there “could be some discussion” about returning lands to Ukraine.
Reacting to Mr Volker’s comments on Ukraine’s NATO membership hopes, international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn said he expects Trump to stand in the way of Kyiv’s application.
“I think in the minds of most people, most observers, they don’t expect Donald Trump to even countenance the idea,” says Waghorn.
“I think Zelenskyy will consider that a long shot, but this could be a sort of opening bid in negotiations, starting very high, wanting NATO membership, knowing that’s probably not very realistic.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has thanked Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Har Stere for his country’s decision to increase its support for Ukraine.
The Norwegian government had set aside $1.4bn (£1.1bn) in assistance for Ukraine in its recent state budget for 2025, which opposition parties deemed insufficient.
The country’s parliament subsequently approved a substantial increase to this, raising the aid package to $3.16bn (£2.48bn).
Zelenskyy says he told the Norwegian prime minister that this was “a true testament to the unwavering solidarity of the Norwegian people with Ukraine”.
By Diana Magnay, international correspondent
Beyond ending the war within 24 hours, which is clearly unrealistic, Donald Trump has been cagey on how exactly he’d manage it.
“Peace through strength” was what he declared he’d deliver as he nominated retired general Keith Kellogg to the post of special envoy for Ukraine and Russia on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s leader is clearly staking quite a bit on Trump’s presidency, hoping that if he shows a strong hand in supporting Ukraine, the rest of Europe will follow suit.
For President Zelenskyy, NATO membership – and the solid security guarantee of Article 5, even if only an aspiration at this stage – is an inescapable part of how he sees his country’s future.
From what we know of General Kellogg’s proposals for peace, outlined in a policy paper back in April, NATO membership would be deferred indefinitely with Ukraine’s security against further Russian aggression guaranteed instead by a strong bilateral security architecture.
So how much more cash and weaponry would Trump be willing to provide Ukraine to truly safeguard its security when the Republicans – and the US more broadly – want less foreign wars, not more?
For deterrence to work, Vladimir Putin has to believe that when president-elect Trump says he’ll act strong, he means it. And Ukraine has to hope that Trump doesn’t tire of the process when he realises just how difficult it is.
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