Zelensky meets with Vance, doesn't expect immediate Ukraine peace plan with Russia

Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Friday said Friday he is not expecting an immediate peace deal because negotiations will be difficult to end the war nearly three years after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of his country.

"Today, we are not talking about any peace agreement. Frankly to say, it is unfortunate," Zelensky said at the Munich Security Conference. "The war has been going on for three years, there have been many deaths, much has been destroyed, especially lives. All this was brought by Putin and him alone."

He noted the United States, Russia and Ukraine have different goals.

"The United States wants a victory, the Russians are desperate for it and Ukraine deserves it. So, it will be very difficult," Zelensky told journalists in Munich.

Zelensky, who met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance earlier on the sidelines of the summit, said Ukraine needs the firm support of the U.S. and a "strong" President Donald Trump on Kyiv's side.

Earlier this week, Trump held separate calls with Putin and Zelensky. Trump said he and Putin agreed that negotiations to end the war in Ukraine will start "immediately."

Zelensky said there "can only be about a plan to end the war" after an agreement between him and Trump. He also noted the importance of Europe's role in the potential deal.

"A peace deal cannot be signed in Munich because it is Munich. We remember what things were signed here. I do not repeat such things," Zelensky added, recalling the infamous Munich meeting when Germany, Britain, France and Italy came to an agreement that allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia.

Zelensky said he will meet with the Russian president only after there is a joint plan with Trump and the EU.

"I am ready to meet only in this case. And we will sit down with Putin and stop the war," Zelensky said.

Democrats and European officials have accused Trump of making major concessions to Putin before negotiations begin, including having Ukraine not join NATO and forfeit some of its land.

"If we do not have NATO, real NATO, we will make NATO in Ukraine," Zelensky said at the conference. " It means that we need to increase our soldiers, our army twice. We have 110 brigades. Russia has 220 brigades."

Zelensky has said the country's future membership of NATO is the best security guarantee for Ukraine.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday said it was unrealistic for Ukraine to become a NATO member.

NATO membership

Before the conference, Zelensky on Friday questioned the credibility of peace efforts by the Trump administration to end Russia's war on Ukraine, saying he could not "see a ready U.S. plan."

Zelensky said that while the signs from Washington were promising, talks thus far were "definitely not enough to form a plan" for peace, stressing it was critical Ukraine be in NATO and that it would never give up territory.

"I don't see that the United States has a ready-made plan. I think this is very important. We are ready to talk at any time, we understand the geography of our country, we see where the biggest risks are," Zelensky said.

"We're ready to talk about everything from troops to security guarantees. ... We're ready for any plan to stop Putin. We are open, but we want to act in accordance with international law and order and to prevent future fears or horrors for the whole world -- Putin's return. We have given the Americans all this information."

Zelensky said that while the current climate in America meant the Trump administration was not ready to talk about NATO membership and were saying so publicly, Ukraine still wanted it due to the security guarantees it provided.

"We trust NATO, we trust these security guarantees. I'm being pragmatic and honest, this is the cheapest option for everyone," he said.

Zelensky said the alternative would still require European input, NATO weapons on Ukrainian soil and building up its military, including a doubling of combat troop levels to 1.5 million and a $20 billion hike in its military budget to $60 billion -- resources that Ukraine doesn't have.

Vance in Germany

Besides Vance, Zelensky also with alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special presidential envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg.

Vance said: "Fundamentally, the goal is, as President Trump outlined it, we want the war to come to a close, we want the killing to stop, but we want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that's going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road."

Zelensky said "we have good conversation today, our first meeting, not last, I'm sure."

During Vance's remarks a the summit, he did not talk about the conflict in Ukraine. He focused on accusing European leaders of stifling opposing viewpoints.

Zelensky also appeared to criticize a lack of seniority among the U.S. delegation at the conference, saying there "were some decisions which can be only on the level of presidents."

Kicking off the conference, Vance stressed the importance of the Europe and NATO alliances for the United States but said the existing relationship needed reform so that they could become more self-reliant as the focus of American foreign policy pivots to the Asia Pacific.

"Europe is of course a very important ally to the United States, NATO is a very important military alliance ... but we want to make sure NATO is actually built for the future, and part of that is ensuring that NATO does a little bit more burden-sharing in Europe so the United States can focus on some of our challenges in East Asia," Vance said.

Vance told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that troops in Ukraine was still an option if Russia refused to cooperate in any negotiations in good faith, but expressed confidence that wouldn't be necessary.

"I think there is a deal that is going to come out of this that's going to shock a lot of people. The president is not going in this with blinders on. He's going to say, 'Everything is on the table, let's make a deal.'"

Vance repeated that the U.S. starting and end point of the peace effort was independence for Ukraine, but said it was impossible to say how much Ukrainian territory would still be under Russian control when the process was concluded.

"There are any number of formulations, of configurations, but we do care about Ukraine having sovereign independence," he said.

The annual security conference comes two days after Trump announced the "immediate" start of U.S.-led peace talks, following a 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first official contact between leaders of the two countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2024.

Hegseth in Warsaw

Hegseth, meeting with his Polish counterpart in Warsaw on Friday, bore down on statements to a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels on Wednesday that neither a return Ukraine's pre-2014 borders nor NATO membership were realistic endpoints of any peace deal.

Speaking at a news briefing alongside Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Hegseth said anything was possible, but that he had a responsibility to inject some clear-sightedness to the debate by telling Ukrainian and European officials that NATO membership and Ukraine regaining all its territory back were not likely outcomes.

"My job today and in Brussels was to introduce realism to the conversation -- the reality that returning to 2014's borders as part of a negotiated settlement is unlikely. The reality of U.S. troops in Ukraine is unlikely. The reality of Ukraine membership in NATO as part of a negotiated settlement -- unlikely," he said.