Zelensky on conflict freeze: without strong position for Ukraine “Putin will try to destroy us again”

President Volodymyr Zelensky said this at a joint meeting with press in Kyiv alongside European Council President Antonio Costa, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"If the conflict is frozen without any strong position for Ukraine, then Putin will come in two, three, or fiveyears... I don't know... it doesn't depend on us... He will return and destroy us completely and utterly. He will try to destroy us," Zelensky noted.

According to the president, prior to starting the negotiation process, Ukraine's positions must be strengthened with the support from partners.

"What does this mean? The most important thing that was in our Victory Plan: this is a package of weapons, including a good, sufficient number, this is about long-range missiles, various points that were spelled out. This was in our plan, which we shared not only with American partners, but also with European ones," Zelensky noted.

In his opinion, it is important to have an agenda for such a negotiation process, and then it is possible to start it.

He added that at the negotiating table, in addition to Ukraine and Russia, there should be representatives from the EU and NATO.

"That’s because we see ourselves as part of the security system in these alliances – both in the European Union and in NATO. And in this format, I understand what we can talk about," Zelensky said.

According to the president, the most challenging question may be what is there negotiate in the first place if Russia does not want peace, does not want to see Ukraine as an independent state in the future.

As Ukrinform reported, Zelensky said Ukraine is preparing to actively work with international partners in December because there are solutions that can be implemented in these very weeks and months for the sake of common security.