Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that if the U.S. decides to leave NATO, “The risk that Russia will occupy Europe is 100 percent.” President Donald Trump has frequently threatened to leave the alliance.
In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Zelensky told moderator Kristen Welker that Russian President Vladimir Putin would send troops to former Soviet nations. “They will begin” by occupying “small countries who’ve been in the U.S.S.R., in the Soviet Union.”
“We will see what will be the answer,” he said of the scenario where the U.S. leaves NATO. “But Europe will not answer because they don’t have — they will begin to defend itself. Each country defend itself… So Russia will get all the successes with all the territory they will want.”
Trump’s presence in the White House and close relationship with Putin poses an existential threat to NATO. “We’ve now got an alliance between a Russian president who wants to destroy Europe and an American president who also wants to destroy Europe,” one diplomat told Politico.
Zelensky’s comments come as the U.S. and Europe wrap up the Munich Security Conference, where the Trump administration has left European leaders shaken, concerned the its plans to withdraw tens of thousands of its armed forces from Europe, The New York Times reported.
“What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America,” Vice President J.D. Vance said Friday to NATO leaders, accusing them of “censorship” and not maintaining security.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Ukraine joining NATO is “not a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.” Hegseth also told NATO leaders that they must begin spending 5 percent of their GDP on NATO defense even though the U.S. only contributes approximately 3.5 percent of its GDP. Trump has long complained that NATO allies do not contribute enough to NATO defense, suggesting that would be justification for the U.S. withdrawing from the treaty.
European leaders are also worried that the Trump administration is engaging in one-on-one negotiations with Putin about Ukraine as National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff are planning to meet with senior Russian officials in Saudi Arabia, two sources told CNN.
Ukraine, however, did not know about the negotiations. “I saw that someone said that there would be a meeting in Saudi Arabia. I do not know what it is,” Zelensky said Saturday at the Munich conference. He added that a negotiation without Ukraine involvement is not a serious conversation, it seems to me.”
Trump last week, following a 90 minute call with Putin, said that it is “unlikely” that Ukraine would regain lost territory seized by Russia in the war.
Rubio said Sunday that the call “has to be followed up by action” from Putin, adding that “the next few weeks and days will determine whether it’s serious or not.”
Rubio did not disclose which Russian officials he would be meeting with in Saudi Arabia. “Nothing’s been finalized yet,” he said.
Rubio also said Ukraine could eventually be involved in the negotiations. “Ultimately, it will reach a point when, if it’s real negotiations — and we’re not there yet — if that were to happen, where Ukraine will have to be involved. Because they’re the ones that were invaded. And the Europeans will have to be involved, because they have sanctions on Putin and Russia as well,” Rubio said.
Zelensky on NBC drew a line in the sand: “I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine.”
“Never,” he continued. “And our people, never. And our adults, and children, and everybody, it can’t be so. The war in Ukraine is against us, and it is our human losses. And we are thankful for all the support, unity… in U.S.A. around Ukraine support, bipartisan unity, bipartisan support, we’re thankful for all of this. But there is no any leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us about us.”
But Zelensky admitted that Ukraine is dependent on aid from the U.S., and his country would struggle to survive without it. “Probably it will be very, very, very difficult,” he said. “And of course, in all the difficult situations, you have a chance. But we will have low chance — low chance to survive without support of the United States.”
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