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LISTEN | Full interview with Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncherenko:
As it happens4:50 p.m.Trump has power to get Putin to agree to peace plan, Ukrainian lawmaker says
Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko said he does not believe Russia is interested in a peace deal with Ukraine, but he hopes U.S. President Donald Trump will use his influence to make it happen anyway.
Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Sunday, and said the two men were “coming very close, maybe very close” to an agreement to end the war in Ukraine.
But on Monday, that progress was stalled when Russia accuses Ukraine for attempting to attack the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in northern Russia.
Zelensky denied the allegations, accusing Russia of lying to “undermine” the peace process and create a false pretext to attack Ukraine.
February 2026 will mark the fourth anniversary of Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and 12 years since Russia illegally occupied Crimea in 2014.
Goncharenko, an opposition MP from Ukraine’s European Solidarity party, spoke with As it happens guest host Paul Hunter on these latest developments. Here is part of their conversation.
Donald Trump said peace in the region was “closer than ever.” Do you see it the same way?
I hope he knows more than me. Because, unfortunately, I see that Russia does not want peace and is just trying to gain time. But I hope I’m wrong and President Trump is right.
WATCH | Russian allegations put a damper on peace negotiations:
Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of trying to attack President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northern Russia, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida and said he had made progress toward a deal to end the war. kyiv has rejected Moscow’s allegations as baseless and said they were aimed at undermining peace talks.
The United States, through Trump, has committed to security guarantees for up to 15 years. Volodymyr Zelenskyy would have preferred a 50-year commitment. What do you think?
Look, something is better than nothing, but 15 years is definitely not enough. This war in Ukraine has been going on for 12 years already. It hasn’t been four years [of] war. it’s been 12 years [of] war.
If we are talking about security guarantees, why should we limit them to a certain number of years? The United States has many such agreements with Japan, with South Koreaand I have never heard that any of these agreements are time-limited. So I don’t see why they should be limited in the case of Ukraine.
Regardless, what do you think about the reliability of security guarantees or their effectiveness? I mean, when it comes to troops on the ground, Ukraine has been alone so far, right?
The best security guarantees are undoubtedly our own armed forces. And I think that once the war is over, Ukraine will no longer be [an] security importer, but [an] exporter. I believe that Ukraine can guarantee the security of many countries in the world thanks to its armed forces and its experience of the battlefields of the 21st century.
So it’s definitely a pretty relative thing. But it’s better than nothing. And we must also engrave in stone that we are, with the United States, allies. Ukraine certainly needs it. But I think the United States needs it too.
Trump talks about…”tricky questions.” …Presumably one of them concerns security guarantees. The other [is] lands taken by Russia in eastern Ukraine. On this point, Zelensky is clear and firm…. Would the Ukrainian people accept territorial concessions?
We need to clarify what we mean by concessions. If we talk about concessions as if Ukraine agrees to part of our territories being Russia, this will never happen. This is simply unacceptable.
If we talk about concessions like recognizing that part of our territories are controlled by Russia, that’s a fact. And the Ukrainian people are ready to accept it and say: yes, these are illegally occupied territories. We do not know when these territories will be returned. That’s it. That’s life. We continue to live.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that yesterday and today Ukrainian forces attempted an attack on the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky denies this. What can you tell us about this?
It seems that Russia is afraid that the negotiations were really effective and is now looking for justification to continue the war. So this is another lie from Russia. Unfortunately, a very predictable thing.
Where is this going? I mean, you’re talking about how many years this has been going on, going back to Crimea…. Do you see an end to this?
Maybe it will end when one country disappears, Russia or Ukraine. Or maybe it will end tomorrow.
[As long as] Russia is an empire and, in a way imperial road, looks like aThroughout the world, the threat will be there, not only for Ukraine, but for the entire planet.
Do you think Putin has any interest in a peaceful settlement? I mean, Trump, after a two-hour phone call yesterday, said that Putin wants to at least see this revised 20-point plan.
No, I don’t believe it. Putin is not interested. But I believe that President Trump…cannot leave Putin with any other option than to accept peace.
But will he do it or not? I don’t know.
You are a member of the opposition in Ukraine. It’s sort of your job to oppose and be critical, I guess, of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. What do you advise him to do?
He’s doing good work overseas. He must continue diplomacy. We must end this war as soon as possible.
And then he no longer needs to run for president. And thus, he will save his legacy as a president who protected the country when it was needed most. But it’s time for him to leave once the war is over.
