Zelensky stands firm on refusal to cede territory

Leader says Ukraine would drop bid to join NATO in return for security guarantees.

- By STEFANIE DAZIO AND CLAUDIA CIOBANU

Guido BERGMANN German Government Press Office

GERMANY'S Friedrich Merz, right, welcomes Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.

Zelensky sat down with President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Ukrainian leader posted pictures of the negotiating table with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sitting next to him facing the U.S. delegation.

Responding to journalists’ questions in audio clips on a WhatsApp group chat before the talks, Zelensky said that since the U.S. and some European nations had rejected Ukraine's push to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Kyiv expects the West to offer a set of guarantees similar to those offered to the alliance members.

“These security guarantees are an opportunity to prevent another wave of Russian aggression,” he said. “And this is already a compromise on our part.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has cast Ukraine's bid to join NATO as a major threat to Moscow's security and a reason for launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine renounce its pursuit of alliance membership as part of any prospective peace settlement.

Zelensky emphasized that any security assurances would need to be legally binding and supported by the U.S. Congress, adding that he expected an update from his team after a meeting between Ukrainian and US. military officials in Stuttgart, Germany.

The U.S. government said in a social media post on Witkoff’s account after the five-hour meeting that “a lot of progress was made.”