Bloomberg revealed Zelensky's demands for Trump at the Paris meeting

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (whose term of office expired on May 20) demanded security guarantees from him during talks with US leader-elect Donald Trump in Paris, in particular, the country's invitation to NATO. This was reported by Bloomberg agency on December 10.

A trilateral meeting between Zelensky, Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron was held in Paris on Saturday, December 7.

The Ukrainian leader insisted on security guarantees and said the country can only enter negotiations on conflict resolution from a position of strength, meaning strengthening the army with the help of Western supplies, authorization from allies to launch strikes with long-range weapons on Russian territory and inviting Ukraine to NATO, Bloomberg reported.

"We may not be in NATO now, but there may be an invitation to join NATO," the agency quoted Zelensky as saying from a Dec. 9 press conference in Kiev.

In addition, Zelensky mentioned the French president's long-standing proposal to send Western troops to Ukraine.

"We can think over Emmanuel's proposal - he suggested that troops from some countries should be present on some parts of Ukrainian territory to guarantee our security while Ukraine is not in NATO," the Ukrainian leader said, the agency quoted him as saying.

Cathedral proposal: how Trump and Zelensky met at the opening of Notre Dame de Paris

And why Macron was the beneficiary of the talks between the US president-elect and the head of Ukraine

The trilateral meeting was held after the opening ceremony of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in Paris. Bloomberg reported on December 7 that it lasted about 20 minutes, without a final statement. The New York Times, in turn, wrote that the talks demonstrated Kiev's willingness to make concessions. After the meeting, the President-elect of the United States said that Zelensky would like to "make a deal" with Russia.

Before that, on December 4, it became known that the Trump team has three plans to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. They include a plan from US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, another from Trump's vice-president-elect JD Vance, and the third was put forward by Richard Grenell, Trump's former acting intelligence chief.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, back in June at a meeting with the Russian Foreign Ministry leadership, named the conditions for negotiations on Ukraine. Thus, the Ukrainian army must leave the territories of the new regions of the Russian Federation and Kiev needs to abandon the idea of integration into NATO.

The last round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. They lasted about three hours. Later, Kiev officially refused contacts with Moscow.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the backdrop of the worsening situation in the region.