On January 25, 2025, Volodymyr Zelensky recalled that in his opinion, peace with Russia could only be negotiated if kyiv had its place at the table. The opportunity to tell Donald Trump that the terms of such an agreement should be defined with parties other than Moscow and Washington.
US President Donald Trump could keep his promise to end the war in Ukraine but only if he includes kyiv in negotiations, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
Terms to define
Volodymyr Zelensky also said that the terms of any deal that might be reached under Donald Trump were not yet clear – and might not even be clear to the US president himself – because the Russian president Vladimir Putin has no interest in ending the conflict.
Donald Trump, who took office Monday, promised during his election campaign to end the war within his first 24 hours in the White House, without specifying how. His collaborators have since suggested that an agreement could take months.
The end of the war will only be possible if Donald Trump includes Ukraine itself in the negotiations, Volodymyr Zelensky told the press during a visit by the President of Moldova, Maia Sandhu. “Otherwise it won’t work. Because Russia doesn’t want to end the war, while Ukraine wants to end it,” he declared.
What peace are we talking about?
In another interview broadcast later on Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed Donald Trump really wanted to end the war, which has lasted for almost three years.
-“At the moment we don’t know how it will happen because we don’t know the details,” he told Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, released this month after being detained for 21 days in Iran.
“I think President Trump himself doesn’t know all the details. Because I would say a lot depends on what kind of just peace we can achieve. And whether Putin wants, in principle, to stop the war. I believe that he doesn’t want it.”
“As for the organization of the talks, I hope that Ukraine will be present: I really hope that Ukraine will be present, (with) America, Europe and the Russians,” Volodymyr Zelensky also said.
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