President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine will not accept limits on the size of its army or neutral status in any peace agreement with Russia, and he put the country’s funding need for 2027 at 115 billion euros.
In an interview with Alla Mazur for “TSN. Week,” reported by UNN, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s security guarantees cannot be dictated by the Russian side.
“Our security guarantees are our security guarantees; they cannot be dictated by the Russian side.”
On territory, Zelenskyy said the subject can be discussed only by the leaders of the states involved. “The Americans have long been raising the issue of exchanging territories; they call it land swaps,” he said.
“We are not exchanging anything for anything. We are ready for discussion,” he said. “If it is a territorial issue, then it should be handled at the leaders’ level. Other issues should be handled at the level of technical groups.”
Zelenskyy put Ukraine’s need for 2027 at 115 billion euros — 70 billion euros in funding, plus another 45 billion euros. “This is not simply a challenge; it is not simply a task,” he said.
He said Ukraine, the United States and Russia have agreed to hold trilateral talks in November, at the level of negotiating teams. After consultations in Oslo, he said, the American delegation visited St. Petersburg and received confirmation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s readiness for a trilateral format.
The meeting’s location has not been determined, he said. Abu Dhabi and European countries are among the options, and Ukraine insists on the participation of European partners.
Zelenskyy said he did not want to approach a meeting of the leaders “having lifted all sanctions,” according to Sky News. “Sanctions were imposed for aggression, not for an opportunity to have a chat,” he said, adding that he did not want to meet Putin “without tools,” including sanctions and frozen assets.
Progress on Ukraine getting missiles for Patriot systems was “moving very slowly,” he added.
Zelenskyy also gave details of the planned humanitarian mission in Russian-occupied Oleshky, in the Kherson region. The American side proposed a ceasefire from Oct. 27 lasting several days, he said, during which humanitarian missions would gain access and the Russian side would clear roads of mines.
He said he had given instructions to Ukraine’s human rights commissioner and had discussed preparations with the Security Service of Ukraine and the military.
“Undoubtedly, Russia will do everything to clear the roads in such a way that these people go toward Russia and remain there,” he said. “They are not going to simply let the people go.”
“The main thing is to unblock the people so that they can live,” Zelenskyy said. He said Ukraine hopes to evacuate at least some residents to territory under its control, which “will provide them with everything and support them.”
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