Zelensky calls for “lasting peace” during negotiations with the Elysée – DW – 08/12/2024

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to US President-elect Donald Trump’s call for an “immediate ceasefire” and peace talks in Ukraine by saying his country needed “effective guarantees” to a peace protected against further Russian aggression.

Trump and Zelensky made their comments after three-way talks hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, as Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor nears the third anniversary.

Probably huge losses

“I said that we need a just and lasting peace, a peace that the Russians will not be able to destroy in a few years, as they have done repeatedly in the past,” Zelensky said.

“Ukrainians want peace more than anyone,” he added. “Russia provoked war on our territory, and it is Russia that most seeks to disrupt the possibility of peace.”

But the Ukrainian leader said his country needed “effective guarantees for peace”, a remark likely reflecting kyiv’s long-standing calls for NATO to provide such guarantees.

“A ceasefire without guarantees can be restored at any time, as Putin has already done before,” he said, adding: “War cannot be endless, only peace must be permanent and reliable.

Zelensky also said that 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 370,000 wounded during the Russian invasion. kyiv, like Moscow, has rarely given any indication of the number of casualties among its armed forces, and observers say it is likely to be much higher than both sides admit.

‘Ukraine would like to make a deal’: Trump

Trump, who promised to quickly end the conflict in Ukraine after taking office in January without giving details of the method he plans to use, said Sunday that “Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop this madness.”

“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being wasted needlessly, too many families destroyed, and if this continues it could turn into something much bigger, and much worse “, he wrote on his social network. Truth Social media platform.

Trump also wrote that Russia had not intervened effectively to help Syrian President Bashar Assad face the current rebel offensive because it “had lost interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where nearly 600,000 Russian soldiers are injured or dead.

Trump was in the French capital to attend the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, which was restored after being badly damaged in a 2019 fire.

The Kremlin says it is open to negotiations

The Kremlin on Sunday questioned Trump’s casualty figure, saying it reflected Ukraine’s interpretation.

He also declared himself open to negotiations on Ukraine, while imposing several conditions there that kyiv had previously described as unacceptable.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any peace negotiations must be based on agreements reached in Istanbul in 2022 and current battlefield realities.

With this last remark, he was likely referring to earlier Russian demands that Moscow retain the eastern Ukrainian territories it had seized during its invasion.

tj/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters)