Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy struck a hopeful tone Thursday during a televised interview, saying he believes President-elect Donald Trump could be “decisive” in ending the war as kyiv approaches the third anniversary of the Russian invasion.
“Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing,” Zelenskyy said, according to a Reuters report. “His qualities are certainly there.
“He can be decisive in this war. “He is capable of stopping (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or, to put it more fairly, helping us stop Putin,” he added. “He is capable of doing this.”
Then-former President Donald Trump (R) meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower on Friday, September 27, 2024 in New York City. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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Zelenskyy said Trump assured him that kyiv would be one of his first presidential visits after his inauguration later this month, as Ukraine seeks to stabilize the front lines.
Halting Russian advances early in the new year is a top priority for Zelenskyy, who also claimed Putin feared negotiations as the Kremlin chief would see them as tantamount to a Russian defeat.
Despite almost three full years of war, Russia has been unable to achieve not only its initial war goals, but even Putin’s modified plans, which he announced last year when he said his main goal now is to take the entire Donbass, a region in the east of the country. Ukraine covers much of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
However, it is not only Putin who views possible peace negotiations with apparent concern.
Zelenskyy has said he welcomes peace talks, but has also made clear that any negotiations to end the war will only be accepted if Ukraine is granted certain security guarantees, such as the possibility of joining NATO.
Fellow soldiers carry the coffin of leading musical and dramatic theater actor Petro Velykiy, 48, who died in a battle with Russian troops in Russia’s Kursk region, during a farewell ceremony in Chernyhiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, 27 November. 2024. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
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“Naturally, any security guarantee without the United States is a weak guarantee for Ukraine,” he said, although he added that Washington must take into account kyiv’s future security.
“It cannot be any other way,” he added. “We are Ukraine and it is our independence, our land and our future.”
Putin, on the other hand, has said he will not accept any ceasefire negotiations that do not include guarantees that prevent Kiev from joining the 32-member body, which according to Article 5 of the alliance treaty says that an attack on one of the members would provoke an attack by all NATO nations and would effectively guarantee a united attack on Moscow should it attack Ukraine again.
A serviceman from the 24th Mechanized Brigade, named after King Danylo of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fires a self-propelled howitzer 2s5 “Hyacinth-s” towards Russian troops on the front line, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine , near the town of Chasiv Yar. in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on November 18, 2024. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Press service of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade King Danylo of the Armed Forces of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS)
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Zelenskyy, who has led the country since 2019, was also asked if he would consider running for president again.
The Ukrainian president reiterated that The nation cannot hold elections. while it is in a state of war under the nation’s current constitution, but said it might consider it once the conflict is over.
“I don’t know how this war will end,” he said. “If I can do more than I can, then I will probably look at that decision (seeking re-election) more positively. For now, this is not a goal for me.”
Fox Information Digital could not immediately reach Trump’s transition team for comment.
