Zelenskyy announces new defense capabilities agreement with European partners

Ukraine has finalized preparations for meetings with European partners this week, a new agreement on Ukraine's defense capabilities is being prepared, which will actually be implemented as part of security guarantees, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

"Preparations for meetings with European partners have already been finalized – important events are coming up next week. First, there will be a good and in many ways completely new agreement on our defense capabilities. An agreement that we will implement actually as part of security guarantees for our state, for all our people in the long term. It is too early to name the details now – everything will be done this week," he said in an evening address on Tuesday.

The president said Ukraine is "clearly on the same page" with its partners on diplomacy.

"We had a meeting with the President of the United States of America, and we agreed that this is how we will try to organize a dialogue – on the line that is now. This was President Trump's signal to his team. It was also public," Zelenskyy said.

According to him, the frontline can be the beginning of diplomacy, but Russia is again doing everything to jump off diplomacy.

"And as soon as the issue of long-range for us, for Ukraine, became a little further, then almost automatically Russia became less interested in diplomacy. This is a signal that this very issue – the issue of long-range – provides, perhaps, an indispensable key to peace," the head of state said.

In addition, he added the more Ukrainian discussion about Tomahawk missiles turned out to be a strong investment in diplomacy, as it forced Russia to show that Tomahawk missiles "this is exactly the card they are considering."

"We will talk to the Europeans, to the Americans about long-range. The priority is air defense, of course," the president said.