Brussels 19.12.2024 Today the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he needed Europe and the United States to unite to secure peace, and stability, as he convened the EU leaders at their final Summit in 2025 before Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Donald Trump returns to the White House in four weeks, having pledged to bring a swift end to a conflict that NATO says has left more than one million dead and wounded since Russia’s invasion on 24 February 2022.
The President-Elect called the war in Ukraine “carnage”, citing cities in rubble, and pictures of corpses, and concluded it had to be brought to an end.

Zelensky insisted that any steps to secure peace would have to involve the United States, as a guarant.
“I believe that the European guarantees won’t be sufficient for Ukraine,” he said after talks with his EU counterparts.

Zelensky said he was supportive of an initiative launched by French President Emmanuel Macron to deploy Western troops, but this idea needed careful consideration.
“If we are talking about a contingent, we need to be specific how many, what they will do if there is aggression from Russia,” he said.
“The main thing is that this is not some artificial story, we need effective mechanisms.”

Both Ukraine, and the majority of the EU countries, presume that the Republican President could cut support for Ukraine’s troops, and Zelensky would have no other way out, but to make the concessions to Kremlin.

However the change of the U.S. administration approaches, Zelensky has appeared to soften his previously tough stance on any potential peace talks with Russia.

Moreover he said that if Ukraine is given firm security guarantees by NATO and enough armaments it could agree to a ceasefire along current lines and look to regain the rest of its territory through diplomatic means.

Meanwhile NATO members have declined Kyiv’s calls for an invitation to join their alliance without delay, but wowed to continue stand by Zelensky:
“We have to do everything that is in our hands to support Ukraine,” said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.

Zelensky said it would be “very difficult” for Europe alone to support Ukraine without the U.S. participation and pleaded for both sides to engage in co-operation.

“I think only together the United States and Europe can really stop Putin and save Ukraine,” he added.

The new head of the EU diplomacy – Estonian Kaja Kallas, – who is known for her hawkish views, and even prejudice against Russia, warned against premature peace talks:

“Any push for negotiations too soon will actually be a bad deal for Ukraine,” she said, obviously preferring to fight to “the last Ukrainian”, as is was coined by the veteran of the American diplomacy Ambassador Chas W. Freeman Jr.