In brief: Speaking at the 9th European Political Community (EPC) Summit in Dublin on Thursday, Nov. 12, President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that the US-Russia talks on security are less about guarantees for Ukraine, and more about a new security model between Europe and Russia. He called the approach “somewhat strange,” noting that Europe sought close ties with Moscow for three decades after the Soviet collapse. During the same summit, Kyiv urged Western partners for Patriot and NASAMS interceptors, alongside F-16 ammunition and energy support for the upcoming winter. The remarks came as senior US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, with Witkoff signaling that Europe could join the next round of talks.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told European leaders on Thursday, Nov. 12, 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.
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“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.
Western partners asked for more air defense
Zelensky then laid out Ukraine’s three most pressing needs, which he said remain unchanged.
“We need interceptors for our ‘Patriot’ and ‘NASAMS’ systems. And I urge you to take this very seriously and help us find these missiles,” he said, echoing his earlier requests as Kyiv approaches its fifth winter of Russia’s full-scale war.
The second was ammunition for Ukraine’s F-16s, which Kyiv now deploys to down Russian Shahed drones. With Moscow preparing to build more of the drones and launch them more often, Zelensky said, Ukraine will need a steady supply to keep up.
Energy aid rounded out the list. Ukraine needs that support immediately and for the rest of the winter, Zelensky said, noting that his team has already compiled lists of the equipment it requires.
The appeal comes as Moscow continues stepping up its winter campaign against critical infrastructure, including energy, heating and water supplies.
Russia has also adapted its tactics. In recent weeks it has expanded daytime missile and drone attacks against Kyiv, targeting key bridges and the city center, while continuing to rely on ballistic and cruise missiles.
Such attacks often leave residents without electricity, heating or water for days at a time, which international investigators have warned constitute war crimes.
Meanwhile, Kyiv has reportedly exhausted its Patriot interceptor stocks as early as Oct. 15.
Europe sidelined at the negotiations
Zelensky’s visit to Dublin began on Wednesday with a bilateral meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.
In an interview with AFP, he said the sides involved in the negotiations “genuinely want to achieve a result before 2027.”
During the Abu Dhabi talks, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, NATO and the European Commission held separate meetings with the Ukrainian and US teams but never joined negotiations with Russia.
Although Ukraine’s delegation sought to keep Europe involved in the negotiations, Moscow opposed European participation from the start.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed European involvement, suggesting European officials should “stay at the hotel” in Abu Dhabi.
According to Clash Report on Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov went further, accusing European leaders of undermining their own calls for peace by signaling readiness to send troops to Ukraine – a move he said was pushing toward an “expansion of the war.”
Although Peskov did not specify what he was referring to, his remarks appeared to be aimed at the Multinational Force Ukraine (MNF-U), the military arm of the UK and France-led Coalition of the Willing.
On Nov. 9, a day before the first day of trilateral negotiations, the force began its first major exercise in Poland, with around 2,800 troops from 11 countries taking part.
The MNF-U is meant to deploy only after a ceasefire and only at Kyiv’s request, without carrying out offensive operations.
Separately on Thursday, senior US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveled to Moscow for another round of talks with Putin himself, to brief him on the outcome of the Abu Dhabi discussions.
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