Politico Europe · Feb 14, 2026 · Collected from RSS
The Ukrainian president spoke ahead of the next round of peace talks as pressure for concessions grows from Donald Trump.
News Defense The Ukrainian president spoke ahead of the next round of peace talks as pressure for concessions grows from Donald Trump. Copy Link Copied Share via email Share on X Share on WhatsApp Share on LinkedIn The Ukrainian president underlined that he is ready to end the fighting with Putin — on the condition of ironclad security guarantees. | Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images February 14, 2026 2:49 pm CET MUNICH, Germany — Kyiv is ready to make peace, but European leaders need to be ready for Russian aggression because Russia’s Vladimir Putin is “a slave to war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. “The longer the war continues, the more resources the aggressor receives, the more dangerous the consequences become, the more dangerous the evolution of weapons and of war itself is, and the evolution of Putin,” Zelenskyy said in a keynote speech. Putin “is no longer interested in anything else” than war, as “he cannot imagine life without power or after power,” Zelenskyy added. The Ukrainian president underlined that he is ready to end the fighting with Putin — on the condition of ironclad security guarantees from Kyiv's allies to prevent another Russian attack. "We are ready for an agreement that will bring real peace. We believe that this war can be ended," he said. Peace talks, led by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, are set to resume in Geneva next week. But they have stalled as Ukraine resists American pressure to give up territory — some of which Russia does not yet control — and the lack of concrete security guarantees for Kyiv in a postwar settlement. “We truly hope that the trilateral meetings next week will be serious, substantive, helpful for all us, but honestly sometimes it feels like the sides are talking about completely different things,” Zelenskyy said, adding: “The Americans often return to the topic of concessions and too often those concessions are discussed only in the context of Ukraine, not Russia.” Trump is ramping up pressure on Ukraine to give way. “Zelenskyy must act. Russia wants to reach an agreement, and if he does not take action, he will miss a major opportunity,” Trump said on Friday. Zelenskyy underlined that his country is making enormous sacrifices to hold Russia at bay, and reiterated his call for more and speedier arms deliveries from its allies. A particular sore point is delays in missiles for air defense systems while Russia pounds critical power and heating plants during a freezing winter. Ukraine is also hitting targets deep in Russia, and Zelenskyy noted that is what seems to make Russia more serious about peace negotiations. “The stronger we are, the more realistic peace becomes,” he said. Zelenskyy has continued to push hard at Munich for Tomahawk missiles from the U.S. During a meeting with American senators, the Ukrainian president told them the missiles could help Kyiv strike targets deep inside Russia. The meeting covered “what the front line status currently is with Russian losses, and what the Russians need to do, if they want to move the line of contact forward,” Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, told POLITICO. On Friday, Senator Lindsey Graham, who led the Senate’s delegation to Munich, said Kyiv needs the long-range missiles to force Putin to the negotiating table. “I’ll be pushing the Tomahawks,” Graham, the Senate Budget Committee chair, said Friday at the POLITICO Pub at the summit. Republican Senator Roger Wicker endorsed the Ukrainian leader's call for the U.S. missiles “We need to unleash the Tomahawk missiles” on Russia, he said. "That’s a message that will come from the Congress, [but] it’s the decision of the administration.” Wicker added that Putin isn’t negotiating in good faith. “Vladimir Putin started this war. He’s a war criminal, and as you’ve pointed out, he started committing more war crimes this year, by attacking civilians. He will begin to negotiate in good faith only when he is hurting," he said. With European leaders in Munich stressing that they are boosting defense spending and rebuilding their militaries, Zelenskyy highlighted the danger posed by Russia. “Ask yourselves, are you ready not only for the challenges that Russian aggression brings, the challenges of modern war, but also for the constant effort to convince the world to fight for support to defend your country’s interests every single day as Ukraine must do," he said.