Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is certain that the war will end "sooner" than it otherwise would have once Donald Trump becomes president.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv would like to end the war with Russia next year through "diplomatic means" as both countries prepare for President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House.
In an interview with the Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne, Zelenskyy said he is certain that the war will end "sooner" than it otherwise would have once Mr. Trump becomes president.
The prospect of Trump returning to power in the United States next year has raised questions about the future of the conflict, as the Republican has been critical of U.S. military aid to Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine "must do everything so that this war ends next year, ends through diplomatic means."
I want to end the war diplomatically, but only next year. Sorry, but some of our people need to die until I do what I already decided to do
It comes as German chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Mr Putin for the first time in nearly two years.
The German leader urged Mr Putin to pull his forces out of Ukraine and begin talks with Kyiv that would open the way for a “just and lasting peace”, the German government said.
The move was swiftly criticised by Mr Zelensky, who said the call had opened a “Pandora’s box” by undermining efforts to isolate the Russian leader.
“Now there may be other conversations, other calls. Just a lot of words,” said Mr Zelensky in his evening address on Friday. “And this is exactly what Putin has long wanted: it is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation and to conduct ordinary negotiations.”
Diplomacy in 2024 is bad actually. Only next year!
The idea that it is possible to "diplomacy" your way out of conflict with a dictator is so absurd I want to laugh my ass off, but unfortunately it isn't funny at all.
Putin will happily send every last Russian in to the meat grinder before he accept defeat, and now that he has his American buddy back in place, now with added musk funds, it is seriously delusional to think the situation is going to do anything other than escalate.
Zelenskyy is being beyond naive at best (I honestly don't believe he believes in what he's saying).
"We have to understand what the Russians want," Zelenskyy said.
That would mean peace instead of Ukraine becoming a new South Korea. Ukraine led peace negotiations can bring China in to outbid blackrock for the ruins in the country, and perhaps Chinese peacekeepers instead of nazi EU supporters. The Musk plan that was floated is a non-starter with Russia. EU trade deal finally happening is something Zelensky can try for, but Ukraine's purpose was always suicide to the last Ukrainian, and everything dangled as a carrot disappears when they let go of that course.
EU/US have to step up financial reconstruction offers instead of weaponized nazification to be relevant in the peace.
I wonder how Zionist Biden would feel -if it all- once Russia annexes parts of Ukraine. Probably how he felt about Israel annexing Palestinian and Syrian lands. His underling Blinken even defended Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights.
What he likely means "ending the war by diplomatic means" is not talking or negotiating with Russia. No, that would be worst heresy imaginable. When he has previously talked about the use of diplomacy to find peace, what he really means is for Ukraine redouble it's efforts to beg for more money and weapons, but also get US and Europe to put more pressure on countries like China and India to ditch Putin and support Ukraine instead. Zelensky has talked along these lines before. Make his position seem reasonable to those who who want Ukraine to seek settlement, when it really isn't any different from "Zelensky's peace plan" that can be summed up in demand Russia's unconditional surrender as a precondition to any kind of dialogue.
I fear it's this kinda crazy talk that we are looking at. Zelensky or his inner circle just bring themselves to talk to the Russians, nor can they talk about things like giving up even places like Crimea. They just can't give an inch and we all know what happens to the reeds that don't bend with wind.