Zelensky demands ‘real security guarantees’ before peace talks; Vance says US wants ‘lasting’ peace

MUNICH, Germany: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday his country was ready to move quickly towards a “real and guaranteed” peace, after talks with US Vice President JD Vance in Munich.

“I had a good meeting with US Vice President (Vance). We are ready to move as quickly as possible towards a real and guaranteed peace,” Zelensky said on X after meeting Vance at the Munich Security Conference.

US Vice President JD Vance pledged on Friday that Washington sought to secure a “lasting” peace as he held a first meeting with Ukraine´s leader Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss Donald Trump´s push for a deal with Moscow. The talks in Munich were seen as a key moment for Kyiv as it tries to keep Washington on its side after Trump stunned allies by announcing peace efforts with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

“We want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that´s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road,” Vance said as the meeting wrapped up.

He said “good conversations” had been had with Zelensky about how they could reach that goal, and they would have more talks “in the days, weeks and months to come”.

Zelensky also hailed a “good conversation”, saying the encounter with Vance was “our first meeting, not last, I´m sure”. Trump rattled Ukraine and its European allies on Wednesday by agreeing to launch peace talks in his first publicly announced call with Putin since returning to office.

The dramatic thaw in relations sparked fears Ukraine could be left out in the cold after nearly three years battling against Moscow´s invasion. US officials have insisted that Zelensky will be involved in negotiations -- and the Ukrainian leader said he would be prepared to sit down with Putin after agreeing a “common plan” with Trump. “Only in this case I´m ready to meet,” Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference before seeing Vance.

Vance said ahead of the meeting that the United States was prepared to pressure Russia, adding that Europe should “of course” be at the table. But he also told Europe to “step up” on bolstering its own defence to allow Washington to focus on threats elsewhere in the world. US officials have sent mixed messages over Washington´s strategy after Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth appeared to rule out Ukraine joining Nato or retaking all of its territory.