Zelensky says he doesn’t want to be leader who handed Ukraine land to Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky said he does not want to be remembered as the president who handed Ukrainian land to Russia.

Speaking on a panel moderated by Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua on Friday, Zelensky said that he is prepared to engage with US President Donald Trump’s initiative to end the war in Ukraine but he wants to agree on an approach with allies before confronting Vladimir Putin.

“I don’t want to be the person in history who helped Putin to occupy my country,” Zelensky told the audience at the Munich Security Conference.

Zelensky is coming under desperate pressure from the Trump White House this week after senior US officials said it was not realistic to aspire to regaining parts of Ukraine captured by the Kremlin. Trump has also suggested Zelensky needs to call an election to renew his mandate, an idea that echoes talking points from the Kremlin.

US Vice-President J.D. Vance pledged Friday that Washington sought to secure a “lasting” peace as he held a first meeting with Zelensky in Munich. The talks were seen as a key moment for Kyiv as it tries to keep Washington on its side after Trump stunned allies by announcing peace efforts with the Russian president.

“We want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that’s going to have Eastern Europe in conflict just a couple years down the road,” Vance said as the meeting wrapped up.