What's New
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the prospect of freezing the conflict started by Moscow to facilitate negotiations to end hostilities, telling French daily Le Parisien that Donald Trump "knows about my desire not to rush things at the expense of Ukraine."
Newsweek has contacted the Trump team and the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
The comments Zelensky gave Le Parisien during a Q&A on Tuesday come a month before he has to work with the incoming U.S. president who has criticized continued American aid for Kyiv and has called for a swift end to the war.
Trump's transition team has been working on a plan to bring Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table and the president-elect hinted that both Kyiv and Moscow will have to compromise.
What To Know
Zelensky told Le Parisien resolving the war was "not easy" and that Trump wanted a peace deal "quickly" but the Ukrainian leader said the Trump team did not yet have access to all the information from diplomatic and intelligence channels.
Zelensky said regardless of what world leaders want, "we are not just going to give in and give up our independence."
"The danger would be to say—we freeze the war and we will come to an agreement with the Russians," he added, noting that Putin "has killed many Ukrainians."
Russia's defense minister, Andrei Belousov, said Monday that the four Ukrainian regions Putin claims to have annexed Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk, would be fully under Moscow's control in 2025.
But Zelensky said according to its constitution, Ukraine "cannot give up our territories" although he admitted that "we don't have the strength to win them back" and diplomatic pressure was needed to force Putin to the negotiating table.
Moscow's forces are making gains along the front line, as they close in on the regional hub of Pokrovsk, in eastern Ukraine, and with the help of North Korean troops, are also recapturing territory in Russia's Kursk region where Kyiv staged an incursion.
What People Are Saying
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Le Parisien: "Trump knows about my desire not to rush things at the expense of Ukraine. The country has been fighting for its sovereignty for a long time."
"No matter how many presidents or prime ministers want to declare an end to the war, we are not going to simply give in and give up our independence," he added.
President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday: "We're trying to get the war stopped. That horrible, horrible war that is going on in Ukraine with Russia. We've got a little progress. It is a tough one, it is a nasty one."
"You know it's nice to say they want their land back, but the cities are largely destroyed," he added.
Cédomir Nestorovic, academic co-director of the ESSEC Center for Geopolitics & Business, told Newsweek, "It is in the interest of Ukraine to negotiate now before it becomes too late, before Russia gets more and more territory. It is also in the interest of Russia to negotiate now because uncertainty also looms for Russia."
What Happens Next
Speculation is likely to continue about what the Trump administration has planned for Ukraine in the weeks before he takes office on January 20.
Trump's incoming Ukraine and Russia envoy, retired Army Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, will travel to Kyiv and other European countries in January to meet with leaders, but not Moscow, Reuters reported.
In a paper coauthored with former Trump national security official, Fred Fleitz, Kellogg said in April the Biden administration should have given Ukraine the weapons it needed early in the war.
He also argued the U.S. should arm Ukraine on the condition that Kyiv agrees to enter peace talks with Moscow although it is unclear whether the pair's paper will form a blueprint for the Trump team's war policy for Ukraine.
Cédomir Nestorovic told Newsweek that Trump could use leverage such as threatening to stop aid for Ukraine and offer sanctions relief for Russia.
"To win Russian support for a peace plan, Trump can promise that after the peace settlement, Ukraine will get assistance from NATO countries if attacked without formally joining NATO," he said.
English (US) ·