President-elect Donald Trump is “strong and unpredictable,” qualities that could help end the war between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week.
“I believe [Trump] is strong and unpredictable. I would very much like President Trump’s unpredictability to be directed primarily toward the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said in a Ukrainian television interview.
“The ‘hot’ stage of the war can end quite quickly if Trump is strong in his position,” he added.
Trump has promised that he will not “abandon” Ukraine amid its nearly three-year war with Russia. He’s said he could resolve it before taking office on Jan. 20, and claims to have made “progress” on a peace deal.
Zelensky, however, stated in the interview Thursday that the war can’t be ended in 24 hours as Trump has also claimed he would do.
Russian officials last week shot down peace proposals reportedly being floated by Trump’s team that could allow Ukraine to join NATO and could send peacekeepers there to oversee an agreement to end the fighting.
Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to questions regarding his plans and stance on the war.
In other developments …
- A Russian general who led a missile strike that killed 59 Ukrainians in 2023 is in critical condition following an explosion Friday, Ukraine’s military intelligence service announced. Captain Konstantin Nagaiko, 29, was on duty when he was severely wounded by shrapnel, according to the report.
- Ukrainian drones attacked Russia’s largest commercial seaport early Saturday, according to reports. Most of the drones were shot down but one port building was damaged, the governor of Leningrad said. The Pulkovo airport temporarily grounded flights, officials said, likely because of the airstrikes.
- Russia’s defense ministry said its forces took control of Nadiya in eastern Ukraine and carried out attacks on 132 targets including Ukrainian military infrastructure, according to a statement Saturday.
- Russian officials also said forces shot down 72 Ukrainian drones and eight US-made long-range, guided missiles, and vowed “retaliation” for what the Kremlin has called a major escalation, according to reports.
- Russia declared a regional state of emergency Saturday in Crimea amid new traces of pollution from an oil spill caused by two tankers hit by a storm in the Black Sea last month. Workers have cleared more than 86,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil from the beaches so far.
Russia now controls about one-fifth of Ukraine and has slowly advanced in eastern parts of country since last year. While Ukraine seized part of Russia’s Kursk region in August, experts say it hasn’t helped much and Ukraine has since lost around 40% of that land. It remains shorthanded on the front lines as Zelensky has continued pleading for support from Western allies.
In the first three days of 2025 alone, Russia launched more than 300 drones and 20 missiles at Ukrainian cities and villages, Zelensky said on Telegram.
“Such Russian terror, which is not decreasing its intensity, requires us and all our partners to continue to build our air shield,” he said.
Meetings and negotiations set to take place this week will focus on replenishing Kyiv’s defenses, he added.
With Post wires
