Zelensky says he wants war to end by 2025 “by diplomatic means” | War in Ukraine

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.

In an interview on Ukrainian radio broadcast on Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky also spoke of a situation really complicated on the eastern front, where the Russian army is advancing rapidly against fewer and less well-armed Ukrainian troops.

We must do everything to ensure that this war ends next year. We must end it by diplomatic means.

He said he believes that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is trying to get out of his political isolation by talking to leaders. However, Putin doesn’t want peace at allhe said.

The debate on possible peace negotiations, an idea long brushed aside by Volodymyr Zelensky, has intensified in recent weeks against a backdrop of rapid Russian advances in the Donbass (in the east of the country) and Western procrastination regarding 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.

Ukraine is not alone with Russia

Asked about the conditions necessary for opening negotiations, Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed that this would only be possible if Ukraine is not alone with Russia and if she is fortea 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 out in these negotiations.

According to him, this would not lead to a fair ending for the war, launched almost three years ago during the Russian invasion of February 2022.

The G7 countries, for their part, argued on Saturday that Russia remains the only obstacle to a just and lasting peace.

We stand united alongside Ukrainethey assured in a statement released by Italy, which chairs the G7 this year.

Trump’s return to the White House scares kyiv

However, kyiv fears losing US support, essential for its army, after Republican Donald Trump’s victory in the November 5 presidential election.

The president-elect has often criticized the aid provided by his country and assured that he could resolve the conflict by 24 hours without ever detailing his method.

Volodymyr Zelensky fears being forced into negotiations unfavorable to Ukraine.

On Friday, the Ukrainian leader said he believed the war would end earlier under the presidency of the Republican while praising his contacts with him during an interview with the Ukrainian media Suspenseful.

The West is worried about the entry of North Korean troops into the conflict. They are engaged in combat alongside Russian soldiers, according to kyiv and Washington, with the Kremlin evading questions on this subject.

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, visiting Ukraine on Saturday, said North Korean participation will have an impact extremely significant on the security of East Asia.

Volodymyr Zelensky, who met with Takeshi Iwaya, said in his daily speech that Russia is teaching North Korea modern warfare, which may lead to wider destabilization.

Annoyed by Scholz

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.

Olaf Scholz called on Russia to show its willingness to begin negotiations with Ukraine with a view to a just and lasting peaceaccording to the German government.

Vladimir Putin took the opportunity to remind Olaf Scholz that a peace agreement with Ukraine should take into account the new territorial realitiesaccording to the Kremlin.

Russia regularly repeats that it is open to the idea of ​​starting negotiations, but with concessions on the part of kyiv, i.e. the cession of the Ukrainian territories that Moscow annexed in 2022 without fully controlling them.

The Russian army advances against the Ukrainian troops, as the resupply of weapons and new recruits is lentexplained the Ukrainian president while emphasizing the heavy human losses in Moscow.

The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed Saturday the capture of two new villages in the Donetsk region.

The Ukrainian army launched a major attack in August against the Russian border region of Kursk, seizing several hundred square kilometers, an argument that kyiv had said it wanted to use, ultimately, to put pressure on Moscow during possible discussions.