Russia says no meeting planned with Zelensky, NATO for security guarantees

MOSCOW/KYIV: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday there was “no meeting planned” between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, despite US attempts to organise the summit.

“There is no meeting planned,” he said in an interview with US broadcaster NBC News, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “ready to meet with Zelensky when the agenda would be ready for a summit”.

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ROBUST SECURITY GUARANTEES

On the other hand, the head of NATO on Friday called for “robust” security guarantees for Ukraine to ensure Russia will uphold any potential peace deal and “will never again attempt to take one square kilometer of Ukraine”.

“Robust security guarantees will be essential and this is what we are now working to define,” Mark Rutte said during a visit to Kyiv, speaking alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

RUSSIA IS AVOIDING

On the occasion, Zelensky said Russia was doing everything it could to stop a meeting between him and Putin from taking place, and urged Ukraine’s allies to put fresh sanctions on Moscow if it shows no interest in peace.

He said they had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine by other states.

To explain his point, he said the guarantees ought to be similar to NATO’s Article 5, which considers an attack on one member of the alliance as an attack against all.

“This is the beginning of a big undertaking, and it is not easy, because guarantees consist of what our partners can give Ukraine, as well as what the Ukrainian army should be like, and where we can find opportunities for the army to maintain its strength,” Zelensky said.

Earlier on Thursday, Zelensky accused Russia of avoiding the “necessity” of holding a meeting between the two countries’ leaders.

“Current signals from Russia are, to be honest, indecent. They’re trying to avoid the necessity to meet. They don’t want to end this war,” he said in his evening address published on social media.

SECURITY GUARANTEES ARE PREREQUISITE

However, Zelensky said he could meet Putin but only after his country had received security guarantees, and mentioned Switzerland, Austria or Turkey as possible venues.

“We want to have an understanding of the security guarantees architecture within 7–10 days. And based on that understanding, we aim to hold a trilateral meeting” also with US President Donald Trump, he said.

“Switzerland, Austria –- we agree… For us, Turkey is a NATO country and part of Europe. And we are not opposed,” he said of possible venues in comments to media outlets including AFP released on Thursday.

NO CHINA

At the same time, Zelensky said that he did not want China playing a role in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security following Russia’s invasion, citing Beijing’s alleged support for Moscow.

“First, China did not help us stop this war from the start. Second, China assisted Russia by opening its drone market… We do not need guarantors who do not help Ukraine and did not help Ukraine at the time when we really needed it,” Zelensky said.