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Ukraine will decide who represents Europe in any negotiations with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukrainian media published late Sunday, as Kyiv seeks to revive diplomatic efforts to end Russia's over four-year-old war.
Ukraine has been trying to reinvigorate the diplomatic push to end the war by including European countries in the process.
U.S.-backed negotiations have stalled amid the Iran war, while Ukraine has refused Russian demands to cede territory.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was discussed "at greater length than ever before" at a European Council meeting last week.
"We discussed Europe's role in the dialogue with the Russians and what that role should be," Zelenskyy said, relaying his comments to Ukrainian media on the social media platform X.
"Europe will consider the format and propose several options, but Ukraine will decide who represents Europe in the negotiations. That is fair," he added.
European leaders have recently begun discussing the possibility of direct talks with Moscow. However, they remain divided over how to handle relations with Russia.
Zelenskyy's comments came as Ukraine seeks to ensure that any European role in negotiations with Moscow is shaped in coordination with Kyiv.
The Ukrainian president said the issue of Europe's role in dialogue with Russia had been part of discussions at the European Council meeting.
The talks come as Ukraine continues to reject Russian demands to give up territory as part of any settlement.
Zelenskyy also repeated his request for U.S. President Donald Trump to approve licenses allowing Ukraine to manufacture U.S.-designed Patriot interceptor missile systems locally.
The Ukrainian president had urged allies to increase pressure on Russia to end the war during the Group of Seven summit in the French resort of Evian-les-Bains, where he met with Trump.
The war in Iran exposed a global shortage of such weapons at a time when Russia is increasing its ballistic missile production.
The U.S. interceptors are the only effective weapon in Ukraine's arsenal for downing Russian ballistic missiles.
"This time, it became quite public that the U.S. team had responded positively to the issue of licenses for the first time," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said Trump planned to ask U.S. defense companies to establish licensed production of air defense missiles in Europe and Ukraine.
Fabian Hoffmann, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Defense University College, said approval would mark a significant shift in policy.
He said the U.S. has so far not granted Rheinmetall permission for a licensed facility to produce the latest generation PAC-3 interceptors in Germany.
Hoffmann said the main bottleneck in production was not the final assembly of the systems, but the production of certain components.
He cited the radar homing device onboard the missile, which is made by Boeing, as one example.
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