Zelensky Says War in Ukraine Will End ‘Sooner’ with Trump in Office

“It is certain that the war will end sooner with the policies of the team that will now lead the White House. This is their approach, their promise to their citizens,” Zelensky said in an interview with Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that Russia's war against his country will “end sooner” than it otherwise would have done once Donald Trump becomes US president next year.

Zelensky says there has been some constructive interaction with the US President-elect, Donald Trump, and the Ukrainian side had the opportunity to state its position on the vision of peace in a reasoned manner in an interview with Suspilne published Friday.

“[Trump] has heard the basis on which we stand. I have not heard anything against our position,” he emphasized.

To a clarifying question, of whether Trump made a demand for Ukraine to participate in negotiations with Russia, Zelensky answered: “We are an independent country. And we, during this war, both our people and I, personally, are in negotiations with the United States, with both Trump and Biden, and with European leaders, proved that the ‘sit and listen’ rhetoric doesn’t work with us.”

At the same time, “the war will end sooner," according to the nominated head of state under the next Trump administration,

“It is very important for us to have a just peace so that we do not feel that we have lost our best people because of the injustice that has been imposed on us. The war will end, but there is no exact date. Certainly, with the policies of the team that will now lead the White House, the war will end sooner. This is their approach, their pledge to their public, and it is also very important to them,” Zelensky said.