Zelenskyy: We need sufficient amount of weapons, not support in negotiations

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Ukraine’s partners to assist it with more weapons rather than pursue negotiations with Russia.

Zelenskyy in his speech at the summit of the European Political Community in Budapest thanked the leaders for supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.

"We are not defending ourselves from Russian words, but from Russian attacks. Therefore, we need a sufficient amount of weapons, not support in negotiations," he said.

"Embraces with Putin will not help. Some of you have been embracing him for 20 years and things are only getting worse. He only thinks about wars and will not change. Only pressure can put him in his place," Zelenskyy added.

He also stressed the need to apply the concept of "peace through force" as opposed to pushing Ukraine to make concessions.

"Let me emphasise that this war is taking place on Ukrainian soil. Ukraine is grateful for all the support from our partners, we are open to any constructive ideas to achieve a just peace for our country.

But it is Ukraine that must decide what should be and what should not be on the agenda to end this war," Zelenskyy emphasised.

Margus Tsahkna, Estonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, warned of the danger of discussing the need to make concessions to Russia for the sake of peace, and all demands to end the war should be addressed only to Moscow.

The day before, Zelenskyy congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory and commended his dedication to the "peace through strength" strategy.