Zelenskyy: Putin is slave to war, security guarantees must precede any deal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that any agreement to end the war with Russia could prove temporary without clear international security guarantees, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin remains driven by military expansion.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy said that without effective deterrence mechanisms, any deal to end the conflict would fail to prevent further Russian aggression.

“Without clear international security guarantees, any agreement to end the war may turn out to be temporary and will not stop Russia’s future aggression,” he said.

Zelenskyy noted Putin has not abandoned the idea of military expansion and continues to think in terms of territorial conquest.

“He may consider himself a king, but in reality he is a slave to war,” Zelenskyy stated.

The Ukrainian leader stressed that without credible safeguards, the conflict could re-emerge or even escalate in the future.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine has already prepared solid agreements with the United States and its European partners on security guarantees, arguing that these should form the foundation of any future peace settlement.

“We have strong agreements with the United States and Europe ready to be signed. We believe that an agreement on security guarantees must precede any agreement to end the war. Guarantees answer the key question: how long will there be no war? And we hope that President Trump will listen to us,” Zelenskyy said.