Zelensky says Ukraine needs more arms, NATO invite before Russia talks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that his country needed security guarantees from NATO and more weapons to defend itself before any talks with Russia.

"An invitation for Ukraine to join NATO is necessary for our survival," Zelensky said after meeting the EU's new head of diplomacy Kaja Kallas and EU Council chief Antonio Costa, who were visiting Kyiv as a show of support on their first day in office.

Ukraine faces a tough winter ahead, with Russia unleashing devastating barrages against its power grid and Kyiv's fatigued forces losing ground on the frontline.

Questions are also swirling around the future of US support once Donald Trump assumes the presidency in January, with fears he could force Kyiv to make painful concessions in pursuit of a quick peace deal.

Need to be in a 'strong position'

Zelensky said his country needed to be in a "strong position" before any talks with the Kremlin, calling for "steps forward with NATO" and a "good number" of long-distance weapons to defend itself.

"Only when we have all these items and we are strong, after that, we have to make the very important... agenda of meeting with one or another of the killers," the Ukrainian leader said, adding that the EU and NATO should be involved in any negotiations.

Costa said the European Union would give Ukraine its "unwavering" support.

"We have stood with you since the very first day of this war of aggression, and you can count on us to continue to stand with you," he told Zelensky.

The European Union's new leadership team is keen to show it remains firm on backing Kyiv at a perilous moment for Ukraine nearly three years into its fight against Russia's invasion.

Firefighters work at a site of a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine September 15, 2024. Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened this week to strike government buildings in Kyiv with his new Oreshnik missile, after the US gave Ukraine approval to fire long-range ATACMS missiles into Russia for the first time.

Ukraine inherited nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union after its 1991 collapse, but gave them up under a 1994 agreement, the Budapest Memorandum, in return for security assurances from Russia, the United States and Britain.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly complained that the move left his country without security, citing this as a reason it should be admitted to NATO - something Moscow strongly opposes.

Nuclear weapons off the table

The United States is not considering returning to Ukraine the nuclear weapons it gave up after the Soviet Union collapsed, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday.

Sullivan made his remarks when questioned about a New York Times article last month that said some unidentified Western officials had suggested U.S. President Joe Biden could give Ukraine the arms before he leaves office.

"That is not under consideration, no. What we are doing is surging various conventional capacities to Ukraine so that they can effectively defend themselves and take the fight to the Russians, not (giving them) nuclear capability," he told ABC.

Last week, Russia said the idea was "absolute insanity" and that preventing such a scenario was one of the reasons why Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.