Volodymyr Zelensky: The West should not repeat the mistakes of the past, no one wants a second Afghanistan

"The West should not repeat the mistakes of the past", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today, February 17, in an interview with German public television ARD.

In the interview with German television, the Ukrainian president emphasized that "no one wants a second Afghanistan". According to him, it is necessary to learn a lesson from the situation in the Asian country, as a vivid example of the final result of the hasty and thoughtless actions of the official authorities at that time.

With Afghanistan, "there is experience of what happens when someone puts an end to something without thinking about it and withdraws too early", Zelensky commented.

However, he admitted that "there can be no victory for Ukraine without the support of the United States" and reiterated that the ceasefire talks must include security guarantees.

The comparison of the situation in Ukraine with that in Afghanistan is far from being made for the first time.

Just a few days earlier, on February 15, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview with the American television channel Fox News that the war in Ukraine could turn into "Afghanistan for the European Union".

"If (American) President (Donald) Trump is unable to find a solution, this war could easily turn into "Afghanistan for the European Union", Orbán commented in the interview.

The interview of the Ukrainian president takes place against the backdrop of two important events. The first is the extraordinary European meeting held in Paris, hosted by the French president, where representatives of Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, the European Commission and NATO discussed the options for assistance they can provide and which will help to reach peace talks for Ukraine.

While the European leaders were negotiating in Paris today, tomorrow, February 18, peace talks for Ukraine will be held between the presidents of Russia and the United States, which will take place in Saudi Arabia.

Zelensky commented earlier that he would not participate in the negotiations between Trump and Putin, and also that he would not accept agreements adopted there that would be detrimental to the Ukrainian side.