Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he wanted to “do everything” to achieve an end to the war in his country in 2025 by “diplomatic means”, the recent victory of Donald Trump in the American presidential election having relaunched the debate on negotiations.
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In an interview broadcast on Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky also spoke of a “really complicated” situation on the eastern front, where the Russian army is progressing rapidly against fewer and less well-armed Ukrainian troops.
“We must do everything to ensure that this war ends next year. We must put an end to it by diplomatic means,” he said in an interview with Ukrainian radio.
He estimated that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was seeking to emerge from his “political isolation” by speaking to leaders. But “Putin doesn’t want peace at all,” he said.
The debate on possible peace negotiations, long swept aside by Volodymyr Zelensky, has intensified in recent weeks against a backdrop of rapid Russian advances in the Donbass (east) and Western procrastination on the military aid to be provided to kyiv.
The Russian and Ukrainian positions nevertheless remain opposed: kyiv excludes the cession of territories occupied by the Russian army, while Moscow sets it as a condition.
Asked about the conditions necessary for the opening of negotiations, Volodymyr Zelensky estimated that this would only be possible if “Ukraine is not alone with Russia” and if it is “strong”, in a strong call to its Western partners.
“If we only talk with Putin, only with a murderer, and we find ourselves in the current conditions, not reinforced by some important elements, I think that Ukraine will lose from these negotiations,” said Volodymyr Zelensky .
According to him, this would not lead to “a just end” for the war, triggered almost three years ago by the Russian invasion of February 2022.
The G7 countries estimated on Saturday that Russia remained “the only obstacle to a just and lasting peace”.
“We remain united alongside Ukraine,” they assured in a statement released by Italy, which chairs the G7 this year.
But kyiv fears losing the support of the United States, essential for its army, after the victory of Republican Donald Trump in the presidential election in November.
The latter has often criticized the aid provided by his country and assured that he could resolve the conflict in “24 hours” without ever detailing his method.
Volodymyr Zelensky fears being forced into negotiations unfavorable to Ukraine.
On Friday, the leader estimated that the war would end “sooner” under the Republican’s presidency, while praising his contacts with him, during an interview with the Ukrainian media Suspilne.
“Pandora’s Box”
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, visiting Ukraine on Saturday, affirmed that the entry of North Korean troops into the conflict would not only “worsen” the situation in Ukraine, but that it would have an impact “ extremely significant” on the security of East Asia.
North Korean troops are now engaged in combat alongside Russian soldiers, according to kyiv and Washington, with the Kremlin evading questions on this subject.
kyiv was annoyed on Friday by a telephone conversation between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Putin, the first meeting in almost two years between the two leaders. Talking to Vladimir Putin “opens Pandora’s box,” blasted Volodymyr Zelensky.
Olaf Scholz asked Russia to show its “willingness to start negotiations with Ukraine with a view to a just and lasting peace”, according to the German government.
Vladimir Putin took the opportunity to remind Olaf Scholz that a peace agreement with Ukraine should take into account “new territorial realities”, according to the Kremlin.
Russia regularly repeats that it is open to peace negotiations, but with “concessions” from kyiv: the cession of the Ukrainian territories that Moscow annexed in 2022 without fully controlling them.
The Russian army is advancing against Ukrainian troops because the resupply of weapons and new recruits is “slow,” explained the Ukrainian president, while emphasizing Moscow’s heavy human losses.
The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed Saturday the capture of two new villages in the Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian army launched a major attack against the Russian border region of Kursk in August, seizing several hundred square kilometers, an argument that kyiv had said it wanted to use, ultimately, to put pressure on Moscow during possible discussions.
But Russia counterattacked in September, and Ukrainian forces were forced to retreat.
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