Zelensky says war with Russia will ‘end sooner’ because of Trump win

London: The war in Ukraine will “end sooner” once Donald Trump becomes US president than it otherwise would have, Volodymyr Zelensky has said, adding he is prepared to do everything possible to bring the conflict to an end through diplomatic means.

The Ukrainian president said he had a “constructive exchange” with Trump during their phone conversation after his victory in the US presidential election. Zelensky did not say whether he made any demands regarding possible talks with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York in September.Credit: AP

Throughout his campaign, Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, cast strong doubts on continued US commitment to Kyiv. He has said the $US61 billion ($94.4 billion) in military aid that Washington has sent to Ukraine was a drain on resources. The conflict has been ongoing for more than 2½ years, following the large-scale invasion of Russian forces in February 2022.

Speaking with the Ukrainian public radio station Suspilne, Zelensky admitted to a difficult situation on the battlefield, where Russia has been pressing its advantages in manpower and weaponry.

“It is certain that the war will end sooner with the policies of the team that will now lead the White House,” he said. “This is their approach, their promise to their citizens.”

“I didn’t hear anything that goes against our position,” he said, adding that he would only talk directly with Trump and not through emissaries.

Trump has sent a clear message that he will not tolerate the status quo with the US’s support of Ukraine when he this week nominated Republican senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state. Rubio previously said the war in Ukraine has reached a stalemate. Trump’s pick for defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has also said he believes the US is spending too much money supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia.

Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman, was chosen for the role of director of national intelligence, the head of America’s 18 spy agencies. She has been accused of appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin, including by pushing a Kremlin-backed conspiracy theory that Ukraine was developing US-led biological weapons laboratories.

Putin has previously said that peace is possible only if Kyiv formally renounced any plans to join NATO. He has also demanded Ukraine surrender four regions in the south and east of the country, as well as Crimea, which Zelensky has so far refused to contemplate.

Russia continues to make gains at key spots along the frontlines of eastern and southeastern Ukraine, moving closer to key hubs such as the city of Kurakhove. Russia claimed on Saturday it had captured two more eastern settlements in the Donetsk region, although there was no confirmation from Ukraine.

Zelensky admitted the situation in Ukraine’s east was “indeed difficult”.

“There is a slow but steady pressure and advance of the Russians,” he said, adding that they had been waiting for the delivery of some weapons for 12 months.

But he said Russia’s advances had come at a heavy price for Moscow’s forces, saying they were losing up to 2000 men a day.

“These are terrible losses,” he said. “They cannot keep advancing with such losses.”

G7 leaders on Saturday issued a message of unwavering support to Ukraine, saying Russia was “the sole obstacle to just and lasting peace”.

Trump has previously suggested that he would halt US aid if Zelensky refuses to negotiate a ceasefire with the Kremlin. But if Putin rejects peace proposals, Trump has said he could instead ramp up weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

In 2022, Zelensky signed a decree that barred Ukraine from holding negotiations with Russia to end the war while Putin remained as leader.

Zelensky’s call for a “diplomatic” solution to the war comes a day after Kyiv rebuked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for holding a telephone call with Putin, his first in two years. That phone call was sought by Berlin despite Kyiv’s objections.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, said in a post on social media that Western leaders would only embolden Putin by speaking to him on the phone. In the same post published on X, he suggested that Putin had no interest in a diplomatic solution to the war.

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