UKRAINE’S President Volodymyr Zelensky has met up with US Vice President JD Vance in Munich for crunch talks over ending the war.
The heroic Ukrainian leader says his country is now ready to move towards “real and guaranteed” peace to finally end Vladimir Putin’s brutality.
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Zelensky and Vance spoke together alongside both Washington and Kyiv delegations as they discussed the latest developments in the bloody conflict.
Footage of the historic meeting saw Donald Trump’s number two explain that the goal remains the same between both America and Ukraine – to stop the war.
He said: “Fundamentally, the goal is as President Trump outlined – that we want the war to come to a close.
“We want the killing to stop but 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 of years down the road.”
He also vowed that the two nations would continue to have similar “fruitful” conversations in the coming days, weeks and months.
Zelensky echoed these thoughts as he thanked America for their support.
The heroic leader said he hopes to continue on with the positive conversations as they prepare a plan “to stop Putin and finish the war”.
Both Vance and Zelensky have already spent the day voicing their hopes over a potential deal between Kyiv, Moscow and now Washington.
Zelesnky warned the West that Vladimir Putin is preparing to unleash a war against Nato in the next 12 months.
In a press conference on Friday morning, he said Vlad was readying a conflict with Nato in 2026 and that giving away Ukrainian land would not appease him.
Zelensky said: “Based on all the information I’ve gathered from intelligence and other sources, I think he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) is preparing for war against NATO countries next year.
“You will not stop him [even] if he says he will stop, it’s not enough.
“Putin definitely does not want peace.”
The Ukrainian leader added: “God bless, we will stop this crazy guy.”
He also believes mad Vlad is preparing to send 15 divisions – some 150,000 soldiers – to Belarus.
“It’s just a large group. And I’m not sure this group will move towards Ukraine,” he added.
From Belarus, Putin’s murderous army could easily invade Ukraine, Poland, or the three Baltic countries – sparking all-out chaos on the continent.
Spy intel released from Denmark on Wednesday warned that Russia’s military capacity could see Putin ready to spark wars with neighbouring regions in just six months as he eyes fractures in Nato.
An unclassified assessment from the Danish Defence Intelligence Service [DDIS] says: “Russia perceives itself as being in conflict with the West and is preparing for a war against NATO.
“While no decision to initiate such a war has been made, Russia is building the capacity to make that choice if deemed necessary.”
It added that the threat is greater if Putin sees NATO as “militarily weakened or politically divided”.
A flurry of negotiations over the Ukraine war are said to have taken place in Munich after Trump demanded a speedy end to the war while Ukraine looks for a shared agreement with the US before it talks to Russia.
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VP Vance took to the stage at the event before the meeting as he demanded Nato stepped up its defence spending ahead of a potential continental clash.
Earlier in the day, he led with fighting words after European nations rebuked the US on Thursday for beginning peace talks directly with the Kremlin without including Ukraine.
Vance said America could send troops to Ukraine if Russia doesn’t negotiate in good faith, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The US sending troops to Ukraine is a shot across Putin’s bow and would mark a major shift in its war footing.
While American spies have been operating in Ukraine, the superpower’s soldiers have not officially been in the country.
Vance also threatened to go after Russia if it didn’t want to seriously make a deal.
He said: “There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage.
“I think there is a deal that is going to come out of this that’s going to shock a lot of people.”
The Kremlin has now asked for Vance to explain more about what that “leverage” means as it panics that the US won’t roll over.
Zelensky said of Vance’s comments: “His signals were strong, we are grateful for that.”
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The heroic president also said he didn’t believe the US had a proper peace plan in place yet and that it was important his allies made “no compromises”.
But he did admit Ukraine could wait to join Nato if it was given other strong security guarantees by the West.
The US also partially walked back its Ukraine Nato-joining ban on Friday saying Kyiv could possibly still join the alliance.
Speaking in Poland, US Defence Secretary John Hegseth softened previous comments as he said it was now only “unlikely” Ukraine would return to its 2014 borders, join Nato, or US troops being in Ukraine.
But, he said what Ukraine’s borders “ultimately look like remains to be seen and is part of the discussion”.
Hegseth had said on Wednesday it was “unrealistic” for Ukraine to return to its 2014 borders before Putin invaded Crimea and appeared to rule out US troops in Ukraine.
A land grab and stopping Nato’s expansion have long been tyrant Putin’s goals.
But, Vance and Hegseth both hammered home the point on Friday that Europe needs to spend more on defence.
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It comes as the US was accused of rolling over to Russia over the past few days by giving concessions before negotiations had even started.
Trump said he expects Russian officials to be at the conference for talks despite Russia not being invited to Munich.
Trump said: “Ukraine is also invited, by the way, not sure exactly who’s going to be there from any country – but high-level people from Russia, from Ukraine and from the United States.”
But Kyiv ruled out meeting with Russia at the conference and said the Ukrainian delegation needed to meet with America first.
Speaking to reporters at the conference, Zelensky said he is only prepared to speak to one Russian official regarding a peace deal and that is the leader of the country.
He added that he would only do thing once a common plan has been established between Trump, European officials, and himself.
The President noted that Trump had given him his personal phone number with the instruction that he could call the US leader at any time.
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One of the topics being negotiated as part of the peace will be how to prevent a third Russian invasion.
America could still provide air support after a deal has been negotiated as part of Ukraine’s security guarantee, The Times reports.
Putin will also be pressing for an end to banking and industrial sanctions as well as travel curbs on Russians imposed following his illegal invasion three years ago.
Ukraine would ideally like to join Nato, but the US had previously made it clear that would not happen.
Another topic under discussion is a $500b deal for American access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as a way of paying for Washington’s continuing military support.
Putin plans to seal his Ukraine “triumph” by hosting both Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a massive Victory Day military parade in Moscow.
The scheming tyrant has invited the US and Chinese presidents to the huge military pageant in Red Square on May 9.
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Putin aims to bask in the adulation of his people for ending the war in the coming weeks, possibly as early as Easter on April 20.
The Victory Parade – the biggest annual event in the Russian calendar – marks the defeat of the Nazis in 1945 and will, this year, mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe.
Sir Keir Starmer said on Friday that Ukraine is on an “irreversible path to Nato” in a phone call with Zelensky, a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
Starmer has also hinted that UK troops could be sent to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force to guarantee Kyiv’s security.
On Thursday, the UK PM said Ukraine had to be part of talks about its future.
Starmer also spoke to Trump on Thursday as the two countries take a different line on Ukraine – threatening the special relationship.
The talks also come just hours after Russia bombed the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with a drone.
The craft carried a “high-explosive warhead” and hit the sarcophagus early Friday morning of Reactor Four – the core which failed in the 1986 Soviet disaster.
Footage showed a thunderous explosion erupting from the dome early on Friday morning and a fire catching in the structure.
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A large hole was left in the sarcophagus following the blast, with Ukrainian firefighters having to go into the structure to extinguish the blaze.
Zelensky slammed Russia as a “terrorist threat to the entire world” following the strike but the Kremlin has denied it was them.
On Thursday, The Kremlin appeared to be celebrating the prospect of winning the war and being handed Ukrainian land.
Putin’s top crony Dmitry Medvedev has hailed Trump as stepping back from “apocalypse” as he celebrated the peace talks.
The former Russian President – who is mad Vlad’s top ally – gloated in a post on social media as he continued to push Russia’s false narrative that either it wins or there will be a nuclear war.
Former US President Joe Biden backed Ukraine and waited for Kyiv to lead peace negotiations.
What is Trump’s Ukraine plan?
TRUMP has already revealed he has a concrete plan in place to end the war and hopes to finalise it “fast.”
Any new deal is said to involve Putin stopping in his tracks and finally putting to an end Russia’s steadily advancing front line.
European soldiers, including Brits, could then be used to guarantee Putin doesn’t invade again by policing a demilitarised zone.
Crucially for Trump and Putin’s relationship, this wouldn’t include American soldiers, say reports.
In return, Ukraine would be barred from joining Nato and would have to declare neutrality.
The country could still join the EU in 2030, and Trump would want the bloc to drive Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction.
The US would continue to support Ukraine’s military, but Kyiv would have to accept Russian ownership of the land Moscow has seized.
Before he took office last month, Trump ambitiously vowed to find a resolution within days.
The alleged outline for peace was leaked to Ukrainian news outlet Strana – but Zelensky’s office slammed it as Russian disinformation.
A leaked peace plan also said Ukraine could still become part of the EU in 2030 and that Trump would want the European bloc to drive Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed a potential deal on Wednesday at a meeting of Ukraine’s military allies at the Nato headquarters in Brussels.
He said a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders before Vlad’s illegal invasion was unrealistic – meaning Russia would be able to keep the land it has stolen.
Hegseth added that his administration doesn’t see any circumstance where Kyiv would be allowed to join Nato.
His speech was regarded as the bluntest statement made by the US on how they believe the conflict can be stopped so far.
Medvedev claimed that strategy was a was “a grave mistake, which nearly wiped humanity off the face of the earth“.
Zelensky said it was “not very pleasing” that Trump had spoke to Putin before him and that Ukraine could not accept any peace where it wasn’t involved with talks.
European leaders were left fuming that they and Ukraine have been frozen out.
EU foreign policy boss Kaja Kallas said: “Any quick fix is a dirty deal.”
French President Emmanual Macron warned a “peace that is a capitulation” would be “bad news for everyone”.
UKRAINE REACTS
At the front, Vasyl Savyn, 54, company commander of the 56th Separate Mariupol brigade said soldiers were not ready to give up because Trump wants to.
He said: “In our company we don’t have any American weapons; we are independent from Trump’s decisions.
“There are only people left on the front line who want to fight and see the victory.
“We may die here, but we will not give up.”
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Eugen Sobchenko, 41, an engineer from Odessa, said he was “very concerned” about the deal.
He believes Trump wants to give Putin enough concessions from Ukraine to frame the war as a win.
Eugen said: “Ukraine will turn into his unconditional victory both for the domestic citizen and for many external partners/countries.
“I want to hope that this is not the case, but I have little hope, unfortunately. This is indirectly confirmed by the Rouble exchange rate and the Russian stock market.”
Another soldier, Eugen, from an Odessa anti-drone unit, said “nothing good will come out of” the deal for Ukraine.
Eugen said: “I have a strong feeling that we are being betrayed by our biggest ally. I don’t feel comfortable at all.
“Time will tell more, of course. I wish to be wrong.”
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