Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that if Ukraine and its allies take “all the appropriate steps”, there is “every chance” that the war in Ukraine could end next year, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported on Saturday.
Zelensky told a conference in Kyiv that he would welcome peace proposals made “by the leaders of African countries, Asia, and Arab states”, as well as by US president-elect Donald Trump. “I think we’ll see these proposals in January … and then we’ll have a plan about ending this war,” Zelensky added, denying as “untrue” claims that Ukraine had its own peace plan and had no interest in hearing from its “other partners”.
Zelensky presented his own victory plan, which envisages Kyiv joining NATO, as well as being able to win further security guarantees to deter any future Russian attempt to invade Ukraine, to the Ukrainian parliament in October. He also proposed a resilience plan earlier this month focused on Ukraine’s domestic development, cultural sovereignty, domestic security, and energy policy.
However, the looming prospect of a Trump presidency could still significantly alter the course of the war. Despite not approving a specific peace plan as yet, the Trump transition team has reportedly discussed freezing the war along the current front lines, leaving some 20% of Ukrainian territory under Russian control, and forcing Kyiv to “temporarily suspend” its efforts to join NATO.
Meanwhile, Zelensky has been signalling Kyiv’s readiness to make concessions to end the war, telling US broadcaster Fox News that Ukraine was prepared to pursue the return of Russian-annexed Crimea via diplomatic means rather than militarily in order to avoid the loss of “thousands” of Ukrainian lives.