Zelenskyy Eyes Russian Reparations for Ukraine's Defense and Rebuilding Efforts

Zelenskyy, who is in Florida, made the comments following a meeting with US President Donald Trump.

"We are interested in Russia giving us the money, and that it be reparations. For us, what matters is receiving the money to rebuild our state. And reparations-based loans - we have already resolved this with the Europeans because most of the frozen assets are located there. I am glad they supported our position. We will receive the first 100 billion over the next two years, in equal tranches. If there is no war, we will spend this money on rebuilding our state. If we have to defend ourselves, we will have the money to pay for that defence," he said.

Speaking about the withdrawal from the Donbas, a region claimed by Russia, Zelenskyy said they will act in Ukraine's interests.

"It is no secret that Russia wants this. In their fantasies, they would like us not to exist on the territory of our own country at all. These fantasies have been around for years. But we have our own land, our own territorial integrity, our own state, and our own interests. We will act in accordance with the interests of Ukraine," he said.

Zelenskyy said that Russia doesn't want a referendum either- a procedure wherein the public would cast their vote on the issue.

"The Russians' attitude toward a referendum is not positive, because a referendum requires security infrastructure. It means a ceasefire is needed. But the Russians do not want to grant us a ceasefire for as many days as are required to hold a referendum. That is 60 days. This is a very difficult issue, and Russia wants to continue pressing us by continuing the war - missiles, artillery, and so on. That is why we are fighting for this," he said.

He said that the US has agreed to security guarantees, which will be voted on by the parliament and Congress of both sides. The guarantees will be ratified by the European Parliament, which would then be legally binding.

"And there's also an issue of the force of these agreements, the force of recognising these agreements. Ukraine had the Budapest Memorandum - signed by individuals - and it did not work. Then there were the Minsk agreements, which led to a full-scale war. None of these papers worked. We have now agreed with the Americans that we will have security guarantees that will be supported by the U.S. Congress, which is very important, and by the Ukrainian Parliament. The security guarantees will be voted on by both sides. And our bilateral agreements with the Europeans will then accordingly be ratified by European parliaments, so that these agreements carry legal force," he said.

Zelenskyy then said the 20-point plan should be decided by referendum.

"As for the 20-point plan, we believe it should be approved through a referendum. This would be the strongest historical endorsement of the force of this document, and we would very much like to do this. Of course, not everyone views this positively because this clearly leads to open expression of the will, not of one person, not of 450 people. We're talking about millions of people," he said.

"It is crucial that this be an expression of the Ukrainian people's will, so that the Ukrainian nation accepts this peace and supports this plan. That is why a referendum is a powerful tool. Ukrainians, who have suffered more than anyone else in this war, should be happy about the end of this war and the format of this agreement. This is what a just peace is about," he added.

Zelenskyy said that the US, Europe and Ukraine believe in ending the war through diplomacy alone.

"There is no alternative to peace. Together with the Americans, we share a single position: the war must be ended through diplomacy, and Russia must be pressed into it - otherwise the war will continue. Certainly, if the war continues, the Americans, together with the Europeans, will continue to support Ukraine, because we are defending ourselves in this war, we are fighting, and we are not the aggressor," he said in a post on X.

Zelenskyy said that the current draft peace framework includes 15 years of security guarantees from the US, with Kyiv pushing for that to be extended for up to 50 years, as per Politico.

At a meeting in Florida on Sunday, Zelenskyy said Trump confirmed strong security guarantees for Kyiv, with both leaders expressing optimism that they were on the precipice of a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.

- ANI