Volodymyr Zelensky says he wants the war to end in 2025 by “diplomatic means”, but only if “Ukraine is not alone”

The Ukrainian president also spoke of a “really complicated” situation on the eastern front, where the Russian army is advancing rapidly.

A turning point in Ukrainian strategy? Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted an end to the Russian invasion of his country in 2025, “diplomatic means”in an interview on Ukrainian public radio broadcast on Saturday November 16.

“We must do everything to ensure that this war ends next year. We must end it by diplomatic means”said Volodymyr Zelensky. The leader estimated that negotiations could only be opened if “Ukraine is not alone with Russia” and if she is “forte”in a call to its Western partners. “If we only speak with Putin, only with a murderer, and we find ourselves in the current conditions, (…) I think that Ukraine will lose in these negotiations”redoute Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to him, this would not lead to “a fair ending” for the war, triggered by the Russian invasion of February 2022, and he believes that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin does not want “no peace at all”. The Russian and Ukrainian positions are opposed: Moscow demands to keep control of the territories currently occupied by the Russian army (notably the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson), which Ukraine excludes.

Volodymyr Zelensky also mentioned a situation “really complicated” on the eastern front, where the Russian army is advancing rapidly against fewer and less well-armed Ukrainian troops. President points to restocking of weapons and new recruits too “lenses”but underlines the heavy human losses of Moscow. The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed Saturday the capture of two new villages in the Donetsk region.

kyiv fears losing essential support from the United States after Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election. The latter has often criticized the aid provided by the United States to Ukraine, and has assured that he can resolve the conflict by “24 hours” without ever detailing his method.

kyiv was also annoyed by a telephone conversation between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Putin on Friday, the first meeting in almost two years between the two leaders. Talk to Vladimir Putin “opens Pandora's box”had castigated the Ukrainian president in a message.