Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on February 15, 2026. (Photo by AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded Washington`s 20-year guarantee for safety from Russian attacks in order to sign any peace deal between Kiev and Moscow.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, ahead of the third set of trilateral Ukraine-Russia-US peace talks scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Geneva, Zelensky called for security assurances from the United States for at least 20 years in any trilateral agreement to end the war with Russia.

Zelensky emphasized that he needed the "legally watertight" security pact to ensure Ukraine will not be attacked by Russian forces for at least two decades.

However, in order to end the war with Russia, Zelensky complained, US President Donald Trump is only focusing on Ukrainian concessions, not Russia.

Trump had told reporters on Friday, "Russia wants to make a deal, and Zelensky`s gonna have to get moving. Otherwise, he`s going to miss a great opportunity."

Ukraine`s president said it seemed like the sides in the negotiation were pursuing "completely different things."

However, he expressed hope that the upcoming Geneva talks would be "serious" and bring about a long-term peace deal with Russia.

"[I hope they] will be serious, substantive, helpful for all of us but, honestly, sometimes it feels like the sides are talking about completely different things.

"The Americans often return to the topic of concessions, and too often those concessions are discussed only in the context of Ukraine, not Russia," he claimed.

Zelensky further claimed that the US has presently agreed to a 15-year security pact with Ukraine, but Kiev wanted a longer, more binding framework that clearly defines the kind of support Washington would provide to a planned European reassurance force in the event of a settlement of the conflict.

Zelensky has so far refused Trump`s suggestion that Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas region in exchange for a swift peace. The Ukrainian president claims such a move is impossible because Ukrainian citizens live in the Donbas region.