Ukraine expects strong security guarantees from USA, like Israel
Ukraine expects security guarantees from the United States to be as strong as those of Israel, and also needs the Patriot air defense system, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, answering a question from an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent about what security guarantees Ukraine expects from the United States.
"There is an issue that I am discussing... regarding security guarantees from the United States of America. We really want them to be strong, at least as strong as Israel's," Zelenskyy told reporters on Friday.
In addition, Ukraine expects a military contingent from its European partners. "We are working on the infrastructure of security guarantees. Even where there are European troops, we are talking about the backstop of the United States of America," Zelenskyy said.
According to him, he spoke with US President Donald Trump that for Ukraine, a "backstop" does not necessarily mean "boots on the ground" in Ukraine.
"I know that the United States of America does not look at this very positively, so we are talking about intelligence work, we are talking about cyber defense, we are talking primarily about the Patriot air defense systems," Zelenskyy emphasized.
He also added that security guarantees are needed on land, in the air and at sea.
"The Ukrainian Defense Minister shared our latest developments with his counterpart in London, and I think we will continue to work at the military level on this security guarantee infrastructure," Zelenskyy said.
