"We want maximum guarantees for our state" – Zelensky says what Ukraine needs for peace

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky outlined his ideas on TV. 

"We want to get the maximum for our state and our people. Just the maximum. And these guarantees - they will happen," he said, answering questions from the media after a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov in Kyiv.

He explained that Ukraine wants to develop a document on guarantees for our security, which would provide maximum and real protection for it as a state, and for its people.

"Sometimes it's better to have nothing and know that you are alone with the enemy than to have a large circle of friends and partners who will not, in fact, protect you," he said.

In addition, Zelensky said, the Budapest Memorandum has proven to be ineffective, so Ukraine is now looking to develop a solid, workable document.

Zelensky also stressed that after the end of this current war, Russia will not disappear from Ukraine’s eastern borders, so a fundamental document allowing Ukraine to coexist with a neighbor like this in the future is absolutely necessary.

"This time we take a very serious and balanced approach to any future document. In addition to a circle of partner countries that should not let us down in event of any aggression in the future," Zelensky added.

He said that a draft document is currently being prepared by security advisors in countries that will later come together as a circle of guarantors, protecting Ukraine's security.