President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to an NBC interview excerpt posted Friday evening, said Ukraine stood little chance of making it through Russia’s attack without U.S. assistance.
In the “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” excerpt, Mr. Zelensky stated: “Probably it will be very, very, very difficult. And of course, in all the difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have low chance — low chance to survive without support of the United States.”
The entire interview will air on Sunday, NBC reports.
His remarks were broadcast on the inaugural day of the Munich Security Conference, where several hundred nervous European diplomats and others had assembled hoping to hear Vice President JD Vance discuss President Trump’s plan to negotiate peace talks with Russia to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
But Mr. Vance only touched on Ukraine and provided no game plan for the negotiations or even any strategic insight into what Europe would be like after the worst ground war in 80 years being fought on the continent. Rather, he called on European countries to refrain from isolating their extreme-right parties, that the greatest threat to security was the curtailment of free speech.
Earlier this week, Pete Hegseth, Mr. Trump’s defense secretary, shocked Kyiv and European partners of Ukraine by stating in a gathering with NATO and Ukrainian defense ministers in Brussels that the United States opposed Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO under a peace agreement. He further characterized a return to the pre-2014 borders of Ukraine — when Russia annexed Crimea — as “unrealistic.”
Mr. Trump has consistently hinted at exchanging American aid for Ukraine’s strategic minerals, saying he wanted “the equivalent of like $500 billion worth of rare earths,” a collection of minerals essential for numerous high-tech goods, for American aid. Ukraine had “essentially agreed to do that,” he added.
In Munich, the Ukrainian president did have his chance to make his argument while seated across a table on Friday from Mr. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and retired general Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.
Mr. Zelensky requested “security guarantees.” Mr. Vance emphasized the value of opening discussions on bringing the war in Ukraine to an end but refused to get into details, he explained, to maintain negotiators’ flexibility.
“Fundamentally the objective is, as President Trump laid it out, we want the war to end, we want the killing to cease,” Mr. Vance explained. “But we want to secure a lasting, lasting peace.
Subsequently, Mr. Zelensky thanked Americans for their support but indicated there remained much to do “to prepare the plan to stop Putin.”
In a tweet, he stated, “We discussed a number of major issues and anticipate welcoming General Kellogg to Ukraine for additional meetings and a more thorough evaluation of the situation on the ground.” He continued, “We stand poised to proceed as rapidly as feasible toward a genuine and secured peace.
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