Zelensky: We will wait for Russia until September 1, if it does not sit at the table...

2025-08-29 16:44:55Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Zelensky: We will wait for Russia until September 1, if it does not sit at the

Talks on Ukraine's security guarantees should be immediately elevated to the level of leadership, including US President Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.

He also said Ukraine and its allies would wait until September 1, a deadline Trump had given himself, to see if Russia was ready to attend a bilateral meeting to end the invasion.

Speaking to reporters, the Ukrainian president stressed that talks on Ukraine's security guarantees must "urgently be raised to the level of leadership" and stressed that "President Trump must participate" in them. He said he planned to continue contacts with European leaders next week on commitments he described as equivalent to those of NATO.

"We need an architecture that is clear to everyone," the Ukrainian president said, adding that he is seeking a meeting with Donald Trump to present Kiev's positions.

At the same time, he called on allies to ratify any security guarantees through their national parliaments, saying: "We want legally binding security guarantees. We don't want a new Budapest Memorandum," referring to the 1994 agreement, under which Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for promises of its own security.

According to Zelensky, Ukraine and its partners have decided to wait until September 1 to see if Russia intends to participate in a bilateral meeting to end the invasion. As he noted, if Moscow does not respond by then, he expects Ukraine's partners to give a clear answer.

"We want to see Russia's real willingness to participate in the talks. If it doesn't, we expect a reaction from our partners," said the Ukrainian head of state.

Elsewhere, he said Russia has amassed "up to 100,000" troops near Pokrovsk, a key city in eastern Ukraine. The situation in the Pokrovsk region "is more worrying today," Zelensky said, as the Russian armed forces "are preparing for offensive actions in any case".


Video