President of Ukraine Zelenskyy Holds Press Conference Ahead of Third Anniversary of Full-Scale Russian War
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a press conference on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale military invasion. He began by saying that on Monday, 24 February, 13 European leaders will join the commemorations of the third anniversary of the war in Kyiv, attending in person and 24 EU leaders will be present online, Suspilne reported.
‘We have an important meeting tomorrow, a summit, 13 leaders will be present offline, 24 leaders will be online, the leadership of the European Union will be here in Kyiv, the leadership of the European Parliament, many delegations. The speaker of our state will hold meetings, and I will have meetings with the leaders. I think that there will be several formats related to Ukraine's technology, which is our priority today, where we are ahead of everyone else... We will also talk about our strategy, but not for the next few years, but for weeks. And it is important that we will discuss the formats of security guarantors for Ukraine, and above all for Europe. And of course, we need the United States of America. And I also think that tomorrow I will propose that we meet in one of the European capitals in the next few days, maybe a week or two. And there they will understand what format can be a security guarantee for Ukraine,’ Zelenskyy said.
‘It is impossible to end this war with guarantees for Ukraine this week’
‘It is impossible to end this war this week with guarantees for Ukraine. At least, I honestly don't know how it can be done today without our meetings. As for the deal, as I told you, there cannot be any format that would leave us in debt for the old one. We are ready to make new investments and be equal partners.’
‘Ukraine is developing its own analogues of Patriot’
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that some of the Patriot systems promised to Ukraine last year have not yet been delivered.
‘I'm not even talking about new systems, I'm talking about the systems we agreed on. Was it July? Yes, it was already July. Yes, last year, it was July. We are dealing with these issues, we are dealing with air defence systems and, frankly, we are dealing with Ukrainian analogues. I will not say anything else.’
‘Ukraine needs 20 more Patriot systems’
‘The second story is when the United States of America can give us the appropriate weapons, to protect all this. We can count on it, it is also an investment. For example, the Patriot system, the cost of such a system is one and a half billion dollars. Well, I don't know, maybe 1.8 billion, maybe the price has increased because of the war... That's why we need, and I've talked about this with our partners, both Macron and Starmer will be going to the US, we need 20 more systems, 20 Patriots, which is exactly $35 billion. If the United States gives me 35 billion for Patriot, we will consider that they have invested 35 billion. And then we will be ready to invest 35 billion on our part.’
‘The United States and Russia have always been negotiating throughout this war’
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the negotiations between Russia and the United States were previously non-public.
‘That's why we always had questions. This is true. It's just that it was not public, and now it is very public. I believe that this is more serious now. And that's why it's more dangerous. Because it's one thing to negotiate at the development level, and another thing to have your official representatives there - these are different things. But, nevertheless, this is not new information for us. I honestly said that we would like to have a priority that the United States communicate with us first. But this is the choice of the United States. They have their own approach. But it is impossible to decide on Ukraine without us. We do not recognise any agreements in the relevant format.’
‘The time will come, the moment will come, we will meet with President Trump’
President Zelenskyy said this when answering a question from Suspilne. He added that he would like to meet with Trump BEFORE he meets with Putin.
‘I think it's right (for Trump to meet with Zelenskyy first - ed.) so as not to change the emphasis and priorities of who is who,’ Zelenskyy said.
According to the Ukrainian president, if Trump meets with Putin first, it will be a mistake for Ukrainian society, ‘because there will be distrust of the United States.’
‘I also believe that it will be bad for American society because they will not understand what is happening. And as I always say, and it's true, as long as our peoples are friendly, respect each other and help each other, the leaders will also be very close in their relations. They have to be. It is necessary and important. And that is why I see a great danger in this. And it will send a bad signal to Europeans. It will be the same for Europeans. But this does not mean that you and I can force this or that leader, we have to speak and say how important it is for us to maintain these relations. That's why we will probably meet with President Trump, but I can't tell you when... I mean, the time will come, the moment will come, and we will meet with President Trump. It is impossible without it. It's impossible to end the war without one side, without Ukraine, without a victim.’
‘I want security guarantees from Trump’
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the main point of the agreement should be clear security guarantees for Ukraine.
‘I think if you believe what he says, he wants the same thing. He wants to end the war as soon as possible. We definitely agree on that. I really believe that he wants to and he will help us end this war. But peace through strength means, first of all, directing our strength towards Russia. I think this is the meaning of the expression ‘peace through strength’. We are partners, and I really want him to be on our side, so that it is not just mediation, because I think that is not enough.’
‘I would like to talk to him about the contingent (peacekeeping - ed.). In principle, we understand the design of the contingent's presence after the hot stage of the war is over. We are ready to discuss this with our colleagues in the European Union, Europe, again in the broader sense of the word, and with the US president. Economic agreements and so on can also be security guarantees.’
‘I'm not going to recognise $500bn in US aid’
Zelenskyy said that it could be about $100 billion in US aid, but not the $500 billion that Trump had previously announced.
‘100 billion in aid from the United States is not 500, not 350, not 250, not 700, 100 Ukraine has received. And we are very grateful for that. And the cost of this war today is 320 billion. 120 billion for Ukraine, 100 billion for Europe. Europe plus partners. Others, for example, Japan - about 15 billion. AND 100 - THE UNITED STATES. This is what the economy of this war looks like.’
‘If there is a fund where the money from extraction goes, and it goes to the fund, and if it is 100% owned by the US, according to the second version of the agreement, this means that it is not a 500 billion investment, because we fill the fund, and nothing comes from abroad. This fund, and everything inside the country, is our debt repayment. Now it's 500 billion. Let's look at the numbers first. I mean, I know that we had 100. And this is a fact. I'm not going to admit it, it's a true situation, absolutely... We should not recognise grants as debts, like it or not. I negotiated with Biden and with the Congress of the United States of America, I am grateful to the Congress, it was the presence of two parties and support, support for grants. A grant is not a debt. They don't have to pay back the debt. Maybe they don't like it and it's not fair, but that's the deal that we had before. This is a grant.’
President Zelenskyy stressed that he ‘wants a dialogue with President Trump’.
‘I think I am fair in saying that I want a dialogue, I do not sign something that will be paid by 10 generations of Ukrainians.’
‘Trump is not forever, and we need peace for many years’
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine needs security guarantees from the United States, which should be reflected in the agreement. The President spoke about this with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during his visit to Kyiv.
‘If you believe that an economic agreement is part of security grants, then why shouldn't your guarantees be present where your business interests are present? I made such a pass towards the United States. We have not yet discussed this with them, nor have we received a response. That is why I believe that the example of American companies, which have already suffered at one point or another in this war, shows that nothing will stop Putin if he wants to, in case of repeated aggression. And this is not out of respect or disrespect for President Trump. Firstly, he is not here forever, and we need peace for many, many years. And it won't be easier for us because, for example, Trump has squeezed him (Putin - ed.), and, for example, there is no Russian offensive under Trump. Is it easier for us to think about what will happen here in 10 years? We have to think now. Let's make this our problem, and we end the war, and we solve all the problems, and not leave it for the future.’
‘We want it to be a win-win economic deal’
‘The United States of America, you see, they don't just give money to Ukraine, they receive this money and can raise the economy, and this can be a guarantee of security. The agreement between us and our partners should be without scandal, but rather a win-win for our nations. Either for American business, or for our business, or for our people. And I believe that this is the kind of agreement we need to sign. To ensure both protection and, forgive the word, enjoyment of partnership... And we would very much like to meet with President Trump, to put the finishing touches on this agreement, for the ministers to sign, for the parliament to ratify, and for all of us to be happy. But it takes a little bit of cooperation from everyone to make us happy. If only one of the two is happy, it's not a very happy family.’
‘I'm not offended by Trump's words about a ‘dictator’. For me, what Ukrainians think is more important.’
‘I certainly wouldn't call those words from President Trump complimentary, to put it mildly. I understand it, yes. But why be offended? Only those who are dictators take offence at the word ‘dictator’. But I take it as... well, we will live with the United States of America. We will definitely not be dictators. It's just not interesting. I am a legitimately elected president, not through some kind of force. By the way, the parliamentarians who came in at the same time were also not appointed by anyone, the people of Ukraine elected the parliament. After martial law ends, there will be elections. And people will make their choice. I am not going to be in power for a decade. But we will not allow Putin to be in power in Ukraine either. To be honest, it is important to me what Ukrainians think of me. I think it's important for President Trump, just like it's important for Americans to think about him.’
Zelenskyy added that such an agreement ‘can be a guarantee of security from the point of view of the United States of America’.
‘To do this, we need to meet and talk about it. I believe that this meeting should be fair, which means before Trump meets Putin.’
‘There were no hints of Ukraine disconnecting from Starlink, we saw it in the media’
‘There were no hints (of a possible disconnection from Starlink - ed.), we saw it in the media, so we should be prepared, yes. Our relevant institutions are working on this. I think it's wrong to disconnect us from Starlink, because we are talking about 45,000 systems today. I'm not going to say how many there are, but thousands. Thousands. These are hospitals, kindergartens, schools, universities. And all of this, life, will be very difficult, very bad without Starlink. So we pay money for this, and I thank our partners. Both Poland and Germany pay money for this. So we are absolutely fair here, we pay for it, it's not free help. We are grateful for these technologies, but we pay for them. We pay rent every month. So let's assume that this, as long as there are no such risks, is really only in the media space.’
‘The US will do everything to ensure that the hot phase of the war ends this year’
‘The United States is not just about money. Political support is very important. Sanctions support is very important. So I would not want us to be here without this help, without the help of the United States... I believe that the US will do everything to ensure that the hot phase of the war ends this year. I believe that this is their goal and they will do everything for this. And that's why I say that doing everything for this without helping us is a slightly different format. This is what I started with. Peace through strength, but in the direction of Russia, not in the other direction. That's about it’.
‘We are looking for different options, we have increased weapons production’
‘So far, there is no new aid, and we are living somehow. While the weapons are coming, we are looking for different options, we have increased production. Last year, we produced 154 artillery systems of domestic production. This is a record, because 154 in a year is, in our opinion, more than all NATO countries together produced in that year. I think this is a serious leap. I said we would make a million drones. We made 2.2 million in the first six months of last year, plus 100,000 long-range drones. We will do more this year. This helps us survive. This does not replace US assistance, but this is not the goal. And so, you know, yes, we may have a deficit, but we will fight it.’
‘France and Germany should sit at the negotiating table as representatives of Europe’
‘Well, first of all, there will be a visit [to Washington] by French President Emmanuel and a visit by Kira after Emmanuel next week. This is very important, because they should, in my opinion, sit at the negotiating table as representatives of Europe. I cannot say who will represent Europe now, but I believe that at least one person will represent the EU, and certainly the UK should also be at the table.’
Zelenskyy added that Ukraine should also count on Turkey, as Erdogan ‘will be ready to give real numbers of contingent, real people, ships, military, etc.’
‘The DPRK lost more than 4,000 soldiers in the war against Ukraine’
‘The latest information we have is that they have lost more than 4,000. The latest information we have is that about 1,500-2,000 new troops are to replenish those brigades of the North Korean military that have lost their combat capability. And it is these additional 1,500-2,000 that will come, we don't know how many more, we have no information yet. I think they will base their training on this, the latest training of the North Korean army. We have warned about this and continue to warn that this is a big risk for the region. Then they continue to supply artillery shells from North Korea to Russia.’
‘Statements about 4% of Ukrainians supporting me were spread by Russians’
‘If you ignore the rhetoric of the last week of President Trump about me and my characteristics, then as far as numbers are concerned, I am always specific, pragmatic and firm. Otherwise, all this disinformation coming from any source that 4% of Ukrainians support me is one of the signals that Russians have been spreading. That's why I said that I think it's a disinformation attack. I didn't say it was President Trump. I'm just saying that he has certain sources. And I think we need to pay attention to the priority. I think the priority is a direct dialogue with me to understand what is happening. And there are also official polling platforms that everyone trusts.’
Zelenskyy stressed that the 4% of alleged support for the Ukrainian president that Donald Trump had previously publicly stated and the real level of trust of 65% is a serious difference.
‘4 і 65. I believe this is not a mistake, it is information, disinformation, which has an impact. And if our side does not respond to this, other information will appear, such as the $500 billion of Ukraine's debt to the United States. These are also dangerous figures. So all of this, 4%, 500 billion, a dictator, elections, etc., are all, you know, dangerous steps to weaken Ukraine, public opinion in Ukraine, and public opinion abroad of our partners and people. And because our partners abroad, they look at the society, whether it supports Ukraine or not. If sociology shows that Europeans and Americans support Ukraine, then leaders support Ukraine. If the leaders start using certain words and, in my opinion, incorrect figures, then this has an impact on social opinion.’
‘I am ready to resign in exchange for NATO membership’
This was stated by the President of Ukraine in response to the question ‘Is Moscow pressuring you to hold elections, or are you ready to resign from the presidency if it means peace for Ukraine?’.
‘Yes, if peace means peace for Ukraine, if you really need me to leave my post, I am ready. The second story is that I can exchange it for NATO. If there are such conditions, immediately. I don't want to talk about it for a long time. I focus on the security of Ukraine today, not in 20 years. I'm not going to be in power for a decade. So this is probably my focus and my dream. As for security guarantees... I believe that NATO is the cheapest option, it's true.’