Zelenskyy says Ukraine needs security guarantees for cease-fire with Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country needs security guarantees to approve a cease-fire deal with Russia.

Speaking in an interview with US podcaster Lex Fridman published on Sunday, Zelenskyy questioned the possibility of a cease-fire without knowing what will happen to Ukraine's security guarantees, saying they must understand what guarantees will be implemented.

"If this is a cease-fire, we must understand exactly what security guarantees are in place in the part of Ukraine that we control. We need it so that he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) will not come back," he said.

Zelenskyy said he wishes and believes in his incoming US counterpart Donald Trump's power to use the information on the situation to come up with a way to make Ukraine stronger.

The Ukrainian president argued the reasoning behind his remarks with an example, saying Trump will be stuck in the same situation as he was back in 2019, where he wants an end to the conflict and a cease-fire.

"What will happen next with President Trump if the cease-fire happens without security guarantees, at least for the territory we control, what does he get? If he manages to make a cease-fire deal, and three months later Putin launches a new wave of attacks. What will Trump look like? What will Ukraine look like?" he questioned.

Zelenskyy argued Trump would be "giving a pass" on Putin should he manage a cease-fire deal without security guarantees for Ukraine, but that he believes this is not what Trump wants.

He said a "strong Ukraine" must be present before a cease-fire deal is reached, adding that a quick step to address Kyiv's security guarantees is membership to NATO, which he described as part of security guarantees for his country.

"The second part is the package of weapons, which we will not use. If a cease-fire works, nobody will use it. For what? But it has to stay," he said.