Zelensky says Ukraine-Russia war will end sooner with Trump as president

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is certain the war with Russia will “end sooner” once Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Mr Zelensky conceded the battlefield situation in eastern Ukraine was difficult and Russia was making advances, adding that Russian president Vladimir Putin was not interested in agreeing to a peace deal.

In an interview on Saturday, the Ukrainian president said he had a “constructive exchange” with US president-elect Trump during a phone conversation following his victory against Kamala Harris.

He added that he had not heard anything from Mr Trump that went against Ukraine’s stance, but he did not specify whether Mr Trump had made any demands on potential negotiations with Russia.

Mr Zelensky also said US legislation prevented him from meeting Mr Trump before his inauguration next January. The Ukrainian leader said he would only talk with Mr Trump, himself, rather than any emissary or advisor.

“It is certain that the war will end sooner with the policies of the team that will now lead the White House. This is their approach, their promise to their citizens,” Mr Zelensky told Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne.

He added: “I, as the president of Ukraine, will only take seriously a conversation with the president of the United States of America, with all due respect to any entourage, to any people.

“From our side, we must do everything so that this war ends next year, ends through diplomatic means.”

Mr Trump has suggested he could put a swift end to the war, without explaining how, and repeatedly criticised the scale of Western financial and military aid for Kyiv.

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.”

In a statement, German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Mr Scholz condemned “Russia’s war of aggression” during the conversation, calling on Mr Putin to end it by withdrawing troops.

But with the conflict reaching its 1,000th day next week, Ukraine is facing increasingly difficult conditions on the frontlines in its east amid shortages of arms and personnel, while Russian forces make steady advances.

The Ukrainian capital Kyiv was attacked overnight by Russian drones, damaging residential buildings and infrastructure. No casualties were reported.

Ukrainian air defences neutralised up to a dozen drones, according to the head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhii Popko.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 83 Shahed drones in the early hours of Saturday morning, the Ukrainian air force said. Of those, 55 were shot down, while another 30 veered off course or were lost after electronic jamming.

Meanwhile, Russia’s ministry of defence said that it had destroyed 35 Ukrainian drones, including 20 over the western Kursk region and 11 over the Bryansk region.

The Russian defence ministry also claimed its forces had captured the villages of Makarivka and Hryhorivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. This could not be independently verified.