Zelensky says the agreement with the US on security guarantees "is 100% ready"

BarcelonaVolodymyr Zelenskyy asserts that a US document specifying the security guarantees the White House must provide against Russia is completely finalized, and he is only waiting for a date and time to sign it. "For us, security guarantees are, first and foremost, US security guarantees. The document is 100% ready, and we are waiting for our partners to confirm the date and location where we will sign it," the Ukrainian president said during a visit to Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital. The document should then be sent to the US Congress and the Ukrainian Parliament for ratification.

After The three-way negotiations between Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington this weekend will end without conclusions. The Ukrainian leader is eager to secure at least what he considers a certainty: the commitment of the US military to protect them against another potential Russian aggression. But the real stumbling block in the negotiations remains the territorial issue. And Trump's United States is inclined to make security guarantees contingent on Ukraine ceding the territories occupied by Russia (part of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson), and the entirety of Donbas. This is what has brought the talks to a standstill: Washington has made separate, irreconcilable commitments to Ukraine and Russia. Neither the Ukrainian president is willing to cede the last strongholds of Donetsk, nor does Putin want the West to be able to defend Ukraine. However, at least both sides agreed to continue talks next week in Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, and facing the siege that Kiiv is suffering, with constant attacks on electrical infrastructureZelensky has asked his allies for more air defense support to protect the city. More than 1,300 buildings in the Ukrainian capital remain without heat, at a time when temperatures are freezing. Russia launched a vast attack on Ukraine's energy system on Saturday, rocking Kyiv with explosions overnight and leaving 1.2 million properties without power across the country.