Russia on Wednesday insisted that it should be part of any talks regarding security guarantees for Ukraine, casting uncertainty over the possibility of an imminent summit between President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Vladimir Putin. The warning chilled global expectations of a quick end to the almost three-and-a-half-year conflict.
NATO military leaders had a virtual meeting on Ukraine’s security guarantees as part of continuing international diplomatic efforts to end the war. Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chairman of NATO’s military committee, reconfirmed the alliance’s backing on social media, stating: “On #Ukraine, we reaffirmed our support. The priority remains a just, credible and lasting peace.”
Zelensky’s office chief, Andriy Yermak, said that Ukraine is working on contingency plans with allies in case Russia continues to extend the war or interferes with plans for a meeting of leaders. Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, cautioned that talks on security guarantees without Moscow would be “a road to nowhere.”
Russia’s push for inclusion goes back to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which guaranteed security guarantees to Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan in return for relinquishing Soviet-era nuclear weapons. Russia broke this agreement with its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which has left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced.
NATO and Global Diplomacy
Sweden, the newest member of NATO since March 2024, provided assistance to defend Ukraine via air monitoring of airspace and naval operations. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was clear that Sweden would engage to allow Ukraine to defend its land on its own, without sending big foreign army contingents.
On Tuesday, US Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine met with European military chiefs to discuss the “best possibilities of a possible Ukraine peace agreement,” a US defense official explained to AFP. Zelensky and European leaders were hosted by the White House earlier this week, after President Trump held his publicity-stirring meeting with Putin in Alaska.
Russia dismissed these diplomatic attempts, however, as “clumsy” and denying reports that a summit between Putin and Zelensky was near. Lavrov emphasized that any meeting would need to be carefully prepared so as not to escalate the situation.
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Continuing Conflict on the Ground
Despite the diplomatic efforts, battles raged on in eastern Ukraine. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have captured the villages of Sukhetske and Pankivka in Donetsk, close to a breakthrough between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka. The Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrsky, stated that his troops are fighting intense defensive battles against stronger Russian forces.
Civilian fatalities also continued to escalate. Six individuals were killed in eastern and southern Ukraine, and a Ukrainian drone bombing killed one individual in Russia’s Bryansk province. Russian air bombardments injured a minimum of 14 in the northeastern town of Okhtyrka, three of whom were children.
Zelensky referred to the bombardments as a reminder of the imperative of putting pressure on Moscow, including sanctions, as international negotiations hang in the balance.
