President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia will never occupy Ukraine but acknowledged that Kyiv currently cannot reclaim all its internationally recognized territories by military means. Speaking at a press conference before talks with US officials in New York, Zelensky emphasized that diplomacy, international sanctions, and security guarantees are key to protecting the country.

“We all understand that today Ukraine cannot fully restore all its territories by force of arms. They don’t have enough strength, and we don’t have enough strength. Therefore, when we talk about what society and people believe in, I consider that today the diplomatic path means fewer killings, fewer losses, and is faster than the path of war,” the channel My-Ukraine reports reports Zelensky saying.

He outlined Ukraine’s three levels of security guarantees:

• Maintaining a large Ukrainian army equipped with weapons of Ukrainian, American, and European production.
• Agreements with NATO partners at the leader level, ensuring readiness to support Ukraine in case of new Russian aggression.
• Sanctions against Russia and the use of frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s postwar recovery.

Zelensky emphasized that Kyiv is seeking legally binding security guarantees from “key European countries and the United States,” to prevent a repeat of the Budapest Memorandum, which left Ukraine vulnerable after giving up its nuclear arsenal in 1994: “We do not want the Budapest Memorandum, we do not want the Minsk agreements, we want a serious document,” he said.

The press conference came ahead of Ukrainian talks with the US official, including an upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump’s adviser Steve Witkoff in New York, and followed another massive Russian shelling of Kyiv that claimed the lives of 23 people.

While Ukraine strengthens its diplomatic position, its armed forces continue to strike strategic targets deep inside Russian territory, underscoring the dual approach of military pressure and international negotiations.

how to hold Russia financially accountable for its invasion.