Zelenskyy says Ukraine must do everything to end war in 2025

Russia’s war in Ukraine, which will reach its 1,000th day next week, must be brought to an end in 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview aired on Saturday.

“We, from our side, must do everything so that next year, this war ends by diplomatic means. This is very important,” Zelenskyy told “Suspilne” radio.

Ukraine’s leader said he expects that the new U.S. administration, led by President-elect Donald Trump, may help to conclude the war quickly, without offering specifics.

Trump, who takes office in January, has said he’d seek a quick deal between Kyiv and Moscow to end the war, but hasn’t spelled out any terms he has in mind, including what would happen, for example, to Ukrainian territory occupied by Kremlin forces since 2022.

“This is their approach, their promise to their society, it is also very important to them,” Zelenskyy said. “He is on the side of supporting Ukraine, he appreciates our strength, integrity and courage.”

Ukraine’s foreign minister said last week that preliminary efforts are underway to set up a meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump. On Saturday, Zelenskiy said he was looking forward to a “substantial” meeting after Trump’s inauguration in January.

Kyiv, though, won’t enter into negotiations or peace talks from a weak position, Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine should not be “left alone with the Russian Federation” to craft a solution to the conflict.

“For us, the victory means a strong Ukraine. Whether that’s in diplomacy or on the battlefield is another question. But we have already proved that ‘sit and listen’ rhetoric does not work with us,” Zelenskyy said.

Separately on Saturday, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visited Kyiv for a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sibiha, and said the two countries would hold a security policy dialogue in the future.

Iwaya also decried the recent arrival of North Korean soldiers in Russia to reinforce Kremlin troops as having an “extremely significant” effect on East Asian security.

In Saturday’s radio interview, Zelenskyy repeated his assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin is interested in long negotiations in order to break his isolation, without the intention to reach a deal beyond Ukraine’s total surrender.

“Sitting, talking and agreeing on nothing — this is what is beneficial for Putin,” Zelenskyy said.

As pressure mounts to bring hostilities to an end, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Putin on Friday, urging the Russian leader to enter talks with Ukraine.

In a video address to the nation late Friday, Zelenskiy criticized the call — the first direct communication between the leaders in almost two years — as “exactly what Putin has wanted for a long time” to chip away at Moscow’s isolation on the world stage.

“Russia remains the sole obstacle to just and lasting peace,” the leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations said in a statement released on Saturday.