Zelensky advocates “regular” participation of Europe in peace

O Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today welcomed the presence of Europe, albeit “indirectly” in the latest round of peace negotiations, but argued that the bloc should be able to participate “regularly” in these talks.

“ It is good that Europeans are now part of these talks, although not yet directly and not when the Russians are at the table, but Europeans are already involved and we must ensure that Europe regularly participates in these negotiations,” he said at the start of the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Dublin, which brings together almost 50 Heads of State and Government from the continent.

In the speech, Zelensky announced to the remaining leaders that he will meet this afternoon with White House envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to address the “results of the negotiations of the last few days”, in a reference to recent talks in Abu Dhabi.

The Ukrainian President said that his delegation informed him that these contacts “were serious and were not empty” and also highlighted the agreement for the exchange of prisoners, an “important” aspect that allows Kiev to “recover its people, its fighters, from Russian captivity”.

“ Secondly, there have been many talks on security guarantees, and Europe really needs to pay attention to this issue. When Americans and Russians talk about this, it is not just about security guarantees for Ukraine,” he warned.

In this sense, Zelensky insisted on the call for Europe to be “very attentive” to the discussions between Russia and the United States on the security of the continent.

“Europe must be really alert when Americans and Russians address this issue: it is not just about security guarantees for Ukraine. In fact, this is more of a new security framework between Europe and Russia. [...] We await further details, and Europe should be very attentive to this,” Zelensky insisted.

With regard to the war, the Ukrainian President stressed that “every winter the Russians try to do as much damage as possible”, namely by using the energy export policy as a form of “stunning” because they regard this sector as a “field of battle”.

In this context, it told European leaders that Ukraine’s priorities “continue to be the same” and include strengthening air defense by providing interceptor missiles and by obtaining ammunition from European partners for F-16 fighters used to shoot down “hundreds and thousands” of Russian drones.

In addition, the Ukrainian President shared with the European Political Community the problems that his country is facing regarding the speed of operation of Starshield satellite Internet terminals, the military version of the Starlink system, used, among other functions, by the Ukrainian Army to guide its drones.

Finally, Zelensky ended his speech by calling on the leaders of the European Union (EU) to open all negotiating chapters of Ukraine's accession to the bloc before the end of the year and also calling for “strong” sanctions in the next punitive package that the EU is preparing to maintain pressure on the Kremlin.