This article was originally published in English
The US president, who takes office on January 20, has yet to publicly outline his policy toward Ukraine, but his previous comments have called into question whether the United States will continue to be the main military supporter of Ukraine.
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US President-elect Donald Trump is “strong and unpredictable” and these qualities may be a decisive factor in his political approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian president.
However, Volodymyr Zelensky said it would not be possible to end nearly three years of war in one day, as the future White House tenant claimed during his election campaign.
“The hot phase of the war can end quite quickly, if Trump is strong in his position”Mr. Zelensky said in an interview on Ukrainian television, referring to the fighting on the battlefield.
“I think (Trump) is strong and unpredictable. I would very much like President Trump’s unpredictability to be directed primarily at the Russian Federation”declared M. Zelensky.
The latter is eager to ensure that Washington’s support continues and he recently met his American counterpart in Paris during the celebrations for the reconstruction of Notre Dame de Paris.
As the war enters its fourth year next month, the question of when and how Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II might end looms large.
Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine and took advantage of weaknesses in Ukraine’s defenses last year to advance slowly in the eastern regions, despite heavy losses in troops and equipment.
The trajectory of the war is not in favor of Ukraine. The country is understaffed on the front line and needs continued support from its Western partners.
Donald Trump would nevertheless have responded favorably to the possibility raised by French President Emmanuel Macron of deploy Western peacekeeping forces to Ukraine to oversee a deal ending the fighting, Mr. Zelensky said.
“But I raised a question, saying that we had not heard which specific countries would join this initiative and whether the United States would be present”and highlighted by M. Zelensky.
The Ukrainian leader also remains determined for his country to become a member of NATO. The 32 member countries of the alliance say that Ukraine will be part of it one day, but not until the end of the war.
“The deployment of European troops (to maintain peace in Ukraine) should not exclude Ukraine’s future within NATO”Mr. Zelensky also said during the television interview.
He described the incursion of Ukrainian forces into the Russian border region of Kursk as a “very strong asset” in any future peace negotiations.
To counter bad news from the front line, Ukraine seized part of Kursk last August, the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II.
But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamics of the war, and military analysts estimate that Ukraine lost about 40 percent of the territory it had initially conquered.
ADVERTISEMENTNevertheless, Mr. Zelensky believes that this feat impressed countries in Asia, South America and Africa and tarnished Russia’s military reputation.
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