Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is confident his country’s war with Russia will resolve quickly once President-elect Donald Trump replaces the Harris-Biden administration.
“Certainly, with the policies of this team that will now lead the White House, the war will end sooner,” Zelensky said in a radio interview with the Ukrainian outlet Suspilne News which aired Saturday.
“This is their approach, their promise to their society, and it is also very important to them,” he added.
The conflict — which has dragged on for more than two and a half years — will hopefully end in the next year and through diplomacy, Zelensky said before cautioning, “there is no exact date.”
The comments come after what Zelensky called a “constructive exchange” with Trump during a phone call following his election victory.
The two spoke for 25 minutes and were joined by Elon Musk, who has been tapped by Trump to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump vowed on the campaign trail he would try to bring Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin together to reach a deal, and that he would start working on a truce as early as election night. It is not clear exactly how he would end the brutal war.
In the radio interview, Zelensky admitted the battlefield situation in eastern Ukraine was difficult and that Russia has been making advances. Putin, he said, is not interested in a peace deal.
“[Trump] has heard the basis on which we stand. I have not heard anything against our position,” Zelensky emphasized.
When asked if Trump made a demand for Ukraine to participate in negotiations with Russia, Zelensky said: “We are an independent country … the rhetoric of ‘sit and listen’ does not work with us.”
Trump has criticized the $64 billion in military aid the US has sent to Ukraine since the Russia launched what the US State Department has called a “premeditated, unprovoked, and brutal full-scale invasion.”
The US has been the largest arms supplier to Ukraine, according to reports.
On a post-election call with Putin, Trump reportedly warned him against ramping up the fight in Ukraine.
“The American people re-elected President Trump because they trust him to lead our country and restore peace through strength around the world. When he returns to the White House, he will take the necessary action to do just that,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance Transition team.
However, the Trump camp would not confirm any meetings on Ukraine with Trump Communications Director Steven Cheung cautioning the President-elect’s camp would not “comment on reports of private meetings that did or did not occur.”
After his historic victory, the 45th president of the US also spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said Trump had a “more nuanced” position on the Russia-Ukraine war than previously assumed.
Scholz called the exchange “a very detailed and good conversation.”
The German leader was slammed by Zelensky for taking a phone call with Putin last week.
Scholz allegedly reiterated pleas to end the war but Zelensky said it weakened Russian isolation.
With Post wires
