Zelensky rejects ceasefire in Ukraine until there are solid guarantees of peace with Russia

Ukrainian leader Volodimir Zelensky took part in a summit of European heads of government on Thursday where he rejected the possibility of a ceasefire without sufficient guarantees. Zelensky took part in the European meeting at the same time that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was giving his annual press conference.

In his speech, Zelensky called for the unity of European leaders in their support for Ukraine to be maintained. Also that the international community, led by the EU and the United States, achieve guarantees for a truce in Ukraine. Such guarantees should be sufficient to prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine again when the time comes.

For the Ukrainian president, the current proposals are not strong enough to meet these requirements. "I believe that European guarantees will not be enough for Ukraine. It is impossible to discuss this only with European leaders, because for us, the real guarantees in any case, current or future, are NATO," he noted.

In relation to the United States, Zelensky had a few words for Donald Trump, who will take office in just over a month. The president hopes to continue to count on the support of the White House. There are fears that, once the transition of power in Washington is completed, support for Ukraine will be much less.

Repeatedly during his election campaign, Donald Trump criticized the capital and military hardware outlays earmarked for Ukraine by the Biden Administration. He also claimed that he was capable of ending the conflict in Ukraine quickly.

On Thursday, Putin assured at his annual press conference, a traditional televised address he has made every year-end for the past 25 years, that he was ready to meet with Donald Trump at "any time."

"We have to count on unity between the United States and Europe. It is very difficult to support Ukraine without American help and we will discuss that with President [Donald] Trump when he is in the White House," starting on January 20, Zelensky said.

"I believe that only together the United States and Europe can really contain Putin and save Ukraine," he added.

Putin's jabs at Zelensky at his annual conference

In addition to going over the hot topics of the Russian political and international agenda, Putin also devoted a few words to his Ukrainian counterpart, Zelensky.

Putin told his nation that Russia is ready to negotiate with Zelensky, but only if the Ukrainian president wins the elections. To this he added that the current Ukrainian government has no legitimacy due to the fact that his mandate ran out and that no democratic elections have been held in the country.

Ukrainian legislation does not provide that even in case of war and with the largest declared states of emergency, the country does not hold elections to renew the positions of its institutions. Zelensky has been out of office since last May.

The Ukrainian government has already declared on this issue that elections will be held with the greatest possible guarantees as soon as the pace of the war permits or the open conflict with Russia ends.