Ukraine must enter negotiations strong, responsible and protected – Poroshenko

The fifth President of Ukraine and leader of European Solidarity, Petro Poroshenko, emphasized that now is one of the most crucial moments in modern Ukrainian history, which requires internal unity, responsibility, and professionalism.

This was reported by the press service of Eurosolidarity .

“We are entering a phase where every mistake can be very costly — not in a political or rating sense, but in terms of human lives, territories, and the future capabilities of the state. At such moments, internal unity ceases to be a wish — it becomes a strategic condition. That is why we do not criticize for the sake of criticism, but offer solutions. We want Ukraine to enter the negotiations strong, responsible, and protected,” said the fifth President.

He added that the first condition of any possible peace formula must be an immediate ceasefire.

“No one can object to this. This is a basic test of the seriousness of Putin’s intentions. And everyone is interested in the two-stage nature of the peace agreement. This is exactly how we acted during the most difficult negotiations in the Minsk format in 2014-2015. Despite extremely difficult circumstances, we managed to achieve a pause that gave Ukraine time: to restore the army, to create a defense-industrial vertical, to carry out fundamental reforms and move towards the European Union,” Poroshenko recalled.

He noted that a similar task is now facing us — but the scale of responsibility is much greater.

“Therefore, the second fundamental thing is that Ukraine’s negotiations with the Trump administration cannot be a bilateral dialogue in a narrow format. Our European partners are the states that throughout the years of the war were Ukraine’s most loyal allies. They supplied weapons, opened support corridors, and created a package of sanctions pressure on Russia. And they are our future partners in the European Union,” the party leader states.

According to him, only a joint position of the EU and the US can become the optimal and safe future compromise for Ukraine.

“We need to repeat the successful experience of joining forces in the White House in July 2025 after Alaska. Any negotiations devoid of this trilateral architecture are doomed to be shaky. And we cannot afford a fragile result on an issue that concerns our statehood,” Poroshenko believes.

He added that the third key element is professionalism and trust in the Ukrainian negotiating team.

“Such historic negotiations should be conducted by high-level diplomats, with experience in complex international processes, with a reputation that is respected in the world. There can be no personnel experiments here. In matters of peace, a personnel mistake inevitably turns into a strategic mistake – and a strategic mistake today can cost the entire country dearly,” Petro Poroshenko warned.

The leader of Eurosolidarity noted that this is why the appointment of a negotiating group headed by Messrs. Yermak and Umerov, who are involved in a corruption scandal that has gained global publicity, looks like a manifestation of weakness on the part of the Ukrainian side.

“This creates doubts where we need impeccable trust. And such decisions will inevitably have consequences at the negotiating table. No one questions the right of the authorities to decide how to conduct negotiations. But we believe that the team representing Ukraine should be as strong as possible and with an impeccable reputation. This is about responsibility to millions of Ukrainians. To those who are on the front lines. To the memory of the dead. To our history and our future. Of course, no plans developed without Ukraine can be imposed on Ukraine, in which there is complete consensus on the “red lines” that cannot be violated,” Petro Poroshenko once again noted.

He emphasized that Ukraine should come to the end of this war not weakened, but strengthened.

“We must complete it not at any cost, but correctly – in a way that guarantees the security, justice and irreversibility of our European course. We are ready to work for this, ready to join forces for the sake of the result, ready to defend Ukrainian interests at every stage as part of a single Ukrainian team that is not divided along political lines. Because it is about everyone’s responsibility. Responsibility to people and history… And everyone should realize this today,” the leader of “European Solidarity” summed up.

As is known, on Sunday, November 23, negotiations between the US, Ukraine, and the EU regarding Donald Trump’s new “peace plan” will be held in Geneva (Switzerland). The purpose of the meeting is to agree on wording for the upcoming meeting of the presidents of Ukraine and the US.

A group of Western leaders released a joint statement on the initial draft of the US peace plan for Ukraine on Tuesday. They stressed that the document could serve as a basis for work, but needed to be refined.

Earlier, key provisions of the draft US “peace plan” , allegedly agreed upon by representatives of Donald Trump and the Kremlin, became known. The document contains 28 points relating to the security, territories, economy and political future of Ukraine.

Subsequently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved the composition of the delegation for consultations with international partners on ending the war.

Also follow “Pryamim” on Facebook , Twitter , Telegram , and Instagram.