According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, American President-elect Donald Trump is “strong and unpredictable” and these characteristics may be a decisive factor in his political approach to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, Zelensky said it would not be possible to end almost three years of war in one day, as Trump claimed during his election campaign.
“The hot stage of the war may end quite quickly if Trump is strong in his position,” Zelensky said in an interview with Ukrainian television late Thursday, referring to fighting on the battlefield.
“I think (Trump) is strong and unpredictable. I would very much like President Trump's unpredictability to be directed primarily towards the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has not publicly outlined his Ukraine policy, but his previous comments have raised a question mark over whether the United States will continue to be Ukraine's biggest – and most important – military supporter.
Zelensky wants to ensure that support from Washington continues to flow, which is why he met with Trump in New York before the US presidential election last November.
The trajectory of the war is not favorable to Ukraine
With the war entering its fourth year next month and Trump coming to power, the question of how and when the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II might end has come to the fore.
Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine and last year exploited weaknesses in Ukraine's defenses to slowly advance into eastern areas despite high troop and equipment losses.
The trajectory of the war is not in Ukraine's favor. The country lacks workers on the front line and needs constant support from Western partners.
Trump responded positively to French President Emmanuel Macron's raised possibility of deploying Western peacekeepers to Ukraine to oversee an agreement that would end the fighting, Zelensky said. He met with Trump and Macron in Paris last month.
“But I raised the issue by saying that we don't know what specific countries will join this initiative and whether the US will be there,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian leader wants his country to become a member of NATO. The alliance's 32 member states say Ukraine will join one day, but only after the war ends.
“The deployment of European troops (to maintain peace in Ukraine) should not rule out Ukraine's future in NATO,” Zelensky said in a television interview.
Zelensky described the incursion of Ukrainian forces into Russia's Kursk border region as a “very strong asset” in any future peace negotiations.
Trying to fend off the grim news from the front lines, Ukraine occupied parts of Kursk last August, the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II.
However, the incursion did not significantly change the dynamics of the war, and military analysts say Ukraine has lost about 40 percent of the areas it originally captured.
Nevertheless, Zelensky said the achievement impressed countries in Asia, South America and Africa and tarnished Russia's military reputation.
“Stabilization of the front was crucial”
Zelensky also said he wants to make sure that any U.S. settlement plan takes Ukraine's position into account.
“It can't be otherwise. We are Ukraine and this is our independence, our land and our future.” He also expressed hope that the Trump administration would be able to establish quick contact with Russia. Putin said Moscow is open to talks, but they must take into account Russia's gains in the war and the annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
As Russian forces capture village after village on the Eastern Front at the fastest pace since the February 2022 invasion, Zelensky said stabilizing the front is crucial.
“They are putting pressure on our boys and they are exhausted and that is a fact. We will do everything to at least stabilize the front in January,” he said.
Elected in 2019, Zelensky repeated that new elections cannot be held while the wartime state of emergency remains in force, but said he would consider running again as soon as conditions allow.
“I don't know how this war will end,” he said. “If I manage to do more than I am capable of, I will probably evaluate this decision (to seek a new term) more positively. That's not a goal for me at the moment.”