Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that only transatlantic unity could eventually stop the war in Ukraine and lead to peace amid a change of administrations in the United States.
Zelenskiy met on December 19 with EU leaders in Brussels to seek fresh support amid concerns that President-elect Donald Trump could pull U.S. support for Kyiv after he returns to the White House next month.
Addressing the EU leaders, Zelenskiy welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to deploy troops to Ukraine following an eventual cease-fire.
“We support France’s initiative for a military contingent in Ukraine as part of these guarantees and call on other partners to join this effort, it will help bring the war to an end,” he told the closed-door meeting, according to a text posted on his website.
It is “crucial for Europe to make a significant contribution to security guarantees,” he said.
“We all understand that in January, President Trump will intensify efforts to end the war. It’s up to us whether Europe supports him with a strong, united voice,” he told the EU leaders, according to the text.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine would ultimately need more protection through membership in the NATO military alliance. NATO has said Ukraine will join its ranks one day but it has not set a date or formally invited Ukraine to join.
“It is impossible to discuss this only with European leaders, because for us, the real guarantees in any case – today or in the future – are NATO,” he told reporters. “On the way to NATO, we want security guarantees while we are not in NATO. And we can discuss such guarantees separately with both the U.S. and Europe,” he said.
The meeting came as Ukrainian cities and infrastructure continue to sustain regular Russian drone and missile strikes while outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian forces are facing increasing difficulties in staving off Russia’s increasingly rapid advance in the east.
The EU leaders and Zelenskiy are to reaffirm their “unwavering commitment” to supporting Ukraine “for as long as it takes,” according to draft conclusions seen by Reuters.
“Russia must not prevail,” the EU draft conclusions say. The bloc’s leaders also stress that no decision must be made on Ukraine’s fate without Kyiv’s involvement.
Zelenskiy on December 18 met in Brussels with NATO chief Mark Rutte and a group of European leaders who seek to develop their own plans if Trump, who has pledged to bring a swift end to the conflict, pulls support or forces Kyiv to make concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach a cease-fire.
Organized by Rutte, the meeting involves officials from Germany, Poland, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the European Union’s main institutions.
The key topic of Zelenskiy’s meeting with Rutte was security guarantees, Zelenskiy’s office said.
“It is very important to use these two days in Brussels to meet with all our partners and have the same, and very importantly, not divided — the same — common European position on how to secure Ukraine, how to strengthen our people and, of course, make our army stronger,” Zelenskiy said, according to a statement released by his office.
Strengthening Ukrainian air defense especially ahead of the winter was a key topic during Zelenskiy’s meeting with Rutte, according to the statement from Zelenskiy’s office.
Rutte said Kyiv’s allies should focus on ramping up arms supplies to ensure that Ukraine is in a position of strength.
Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukrainian regions with 85 drones early on December 19, the Ukrainian Air Force said, adding that 45 drones were shot down while the other 40 were derailed by Ukrainian electronic warfare systems that jammed their navigation systems.
The air force said the attack targeted 10 Ukrainian regions — Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Khmelnytskiy, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolayiv.
Russia also launched two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and an Kh-59/69 guided missile during the attack, the air force said.
The missile strikes damaged private homes and apartment buildings in the Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions, with no casualties or injuries reported.
In the Kharkiv region, three people were killed in the village of Shevchenkove, said Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov. Two women, aged 67 and 65, and a 33-year-old man, were killed, Synyehubov said.
One woman was injured and hospitalized as a result of the Russian shelling of Dvorichnaya, he added.
The Ukrainian General Staff separately said that it struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.
“Damage was inflicted to the infrastructure and production facilities of Novoshakhtinsk Oil Products Plant located in the Rostov Region of the Russian Federation,” the General Staff said in a statement, adding that the refinery supplied Russia’s military.
Rostov’s acting governor Yury Slyusar said that the region “suffered a massive attack” using 30 drones and three missiles. Russia’s Rostov region has repeatedly been targeted by Ukraine.
Separately, Russian officials said Ukraine struck Russia with at least 13 missiles and 84 drones.
In recent months, Ukraine has increased the number of drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and fuel depots that work for Moscow’s military.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and dpa
