President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said it was crucial for Ukraine's security that U.S. military support continued, giving the example of U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems.

"Only Patriot can defend us against all kinds of missiles, only Patriots. There are other [European] systems […] but they cannot provide full protection. […] So even from this small example you can see that without America, security guarantees cannot be complete," he said in an interview with The Guardian.

Zelenskyy said a softer peacekeeping mission would be unlikely to work unless it came with guarantees that it would stand against Russia if Moscow resumed hostilities.

"I will be open with you, I don't think that UN troops or anything similar has ever really helped anyone in history. Today we can't really support this idea. We are for a [peacekeeping] contingent if it is part of a security guarantee, and I would underline again that without America this is impossible," he said.

According to the Ukrainian head of state, if Trump withdraws U.S. support for Ukraine, Europe alone will be unable to fill the gap.

"There are voices which say that Europe could offer security guarantees without the Americans, and I always say no. Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees," he said.

Zelenskyy said it was "very important" that the U.S. president met a Ukrainian delegation before meeting Putin, but stopped short of criticizing Trump for his opaque statements.

"Clearly he doesn't really want everyone to know the details, and that's his personal decision," he noted.