Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met in Brussels on December 18 with NATO chief Mark Rutte and several European leaders to discuss war strategy amid concerns that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could pull U.S. support for Kyiv after he returns to the White House next month.
The meeting came as European leaders seek to develop their own plans if Trump, who has pledged to bring a swift end to the conflict, pulls support or forces Kyiv to make concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin to reach a cease-fire.
The key topic of Zelenskiy's meeting with Rutte was security guarantees, Zelenskiy's office said.
"It is very important to use these two days in Brussels to meet with all our partners and have the same, and very importantly, not divided -- the same -- common European position on how to secure Ukraine, how to strengthen our people and, of course, make our army stronger," Zelenskiy said, according to a statement released by his office.
Zelenskiy said earlier on X that he and French President Emmanuel Macron had a "detailed one-on-one discussion" that focused on priorities to further strengthen Ukraine’s position.
"We continued working on President Macron’s initiative regarding the presence of forces in Ukraine that could contribute to stabilizing the path to peace," Zelenskiy said in an apparent reference to a discussion of boots on the ground raised recently during a meeting between Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters ahead of the meeting that the priority of the meeting was to secure the "sovereignty of Ukraine and that it will not be forced to submit to a dictated peace." He said any discussion of boots on the ground would be premature.
SEE ALSO: What A Ukraine Peace Plan Could Look LikeRutte said Kyiv's allies should focus on ramping up arms supplies to ensure that Ukraine is in a position of strength.
Strengthening Ukrainian air defense especially ahead of the winter was a key topic during Zelenskiy's meeting with Rutte, according to the statement from Zelenskiy's office.
"We have to do everything we can now to make sure that when it comes to air defense, when it comes to other weapons systems, we are doing everything we can to provide everything we can," Rutte said.
Zelenskiy was expected to again plead for more air-defense systems to try to help stave off Russian barrages against Ukraine's power grid.
SEE ALSO: Wider Europe Briefing: How NATO Is Preparing For A Grim Winter In UkraineOrganized by Rutte, the meeting involves officials from Germany, Poland, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the European Union's main institutions.
Among the potential topics are possible security guarantees offered to Ukraine in the event of a cease-fire and how a cease-fire could be monitored, with one option being an international peacekeeping force.
NATO members have rebuffed Kyiv's calls for an invitation to join the alliance right away, sparking speculation that sending peacekeepers could be an alternative.
Rutte also said he wants to discuss military aid, especially air defense, with Zelenskiy, saying Ukraine needs 19 extra air-defense systems to protect the country's energy infrastructure from Russian bombardment.
Earlier on December 18, Rutte announced that a new NATO command in the German city of Wiesbaden has taken up its work to coordinate Western military aid for Ukraine.
SEE ALSO: Interview: Could A Demilitarized Zone End The Ukraine War?"The NATO command in Wiesbaden for security assistance and training for Ukraine is now up and running," Rutte told reporters at NATO's headquarters in Brussels. Dubbed NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), the command takes over coordination of the aid from the United States in a move widely seen as aiming to safeguard the support mechanism against Trump.
NSATU is set to have around 700 personnel, including troops stationed at NATO's military headquarters in Belgium and at logistics hubs in Poland and Romania.
Russia has condemned increases in Western military aid to Ukraine as risking a wider war.