Zelensky Questions US-Russia Push for New Security Model With Europe

November 13 ------ President Volodymyr Zelensky told European leaders that when Washington and Moscow discuss security, they are actually negotiating a new security model between Europe and Russia, rather than guarantees for Ukraine alone.

He made the remarks during a broader speech at the 9th European Political Community (EPC) Summit in Dublin on Thursday, Nov. 12, only a day after the first trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US since February concluded in Abu Dhabi. “When Americans and Russians talk about security, they are not only referring to security guarantees for Ukraine. In reality, it is more about a new security model between Europe and Russia,” Zelensky said, according to excerpts of the speech later published on Telegram.

‘Somewhat strange’

Kyiv finds this approach “somewhat strange,” the president said, pointing to history to explain why. For three decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, he argued, Europe showed Moscow nothing but goodwill – expanding trade, deepening cooperation, and working to keep relations as warm as possible.

The root of the problem, Zelensky suggested, lies not in any built-in rivalry between Europe and Russia but in how Russian President Vladimir Putin views neighboring countries. “Putin’s wars are actually only related to his attitude towards others, and not to some constant, inevitable confrontation with Europe,” he said. It was the second day in a row that Zelensky questioned Moscow’s security rhetoric before a European audience.

In Copenhagen on Wednesday, Nov. 11, he told Danish lawmakers that Russia’s demands for security guarantees serve as a pretext for keeping a free hand to use force, pointing out that no country has attacked Russia in decades. The same dispute was at the center of the Abu Dhabi talks on Nov. 10-11, during which Russian negotiators sought a wider debate on European security.

The demands included guarantees for Moscow, curbs on NATO enlargement and a smaller alliance footprint in countries that joined after 1997, while Ukraine’s negotiating team maintained that a full ceasefire must be reached before any such framework can be built.

Source: kyivpost.com