Trump could end war sooner: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed optimism that US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration could expedite the resolution of the ongoing war with Russia, Anadolu reported.

Zelenskyy made the remarks during an interview with public broadcaster Suspilne, where he reflected on US-Ukraine relations and past discussions with Trump regarding the conflict, which began in 2022.

Zelenskyy emphasised the alignment of Ukraine’s position with Trump, stating, “He has heard the basis on which we stand. I have not heard anything against our position.” Addressing whether Trump had urged Ukraine to negotiate with Russia, Zelenskyy clarified, “We are an independent country. And we, during this war, both our people and I, personally, are in negotiations with the US, with both Trump and Biden, and with European leaders, proved that the ‘sit and listen’ rhetoric doesn’t work with us.” The Ukrainian leader shared his belief that the conflict could end sooner under Trump’s leadership, citing the administration’s pledge to prioritise swift resolution, reported Anadolu.

Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin was not interested in agreeing to a peace deal, and argued it was convenient for Moscow to sit down to talk while continuing to fight.

“From our side, we must do everything so that this war ends next year, ends through diplomatic means,” Zelenskyy said in a Ukrainian radio interview aired on Saturday.

Moscow’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva said on Thursday that Russia would be open to negotiations on an end to the war if they were initiated by Trump, although he added that these would have to acknowledge “realities on the ground”.

Moscow uses this phrase to mean Ukraine would have to cede four regions that Russian forces have partly occupied and that Russia has claimed in their entirety. Zelenskyy has repeatedly said since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 that peace cannot be established until all Russian forces are expelled and all territory captured by Moscow, including Crimea, is returned.

A return to Ukraine’s internationally recognised 1991 borders was not mentioned in the president’s “Victory Plan” that he presented last month.

Russia mixing deadly weapons in decoys

At a secretive factory in Russia’s central grasslands, engineers are manufacturing hundreds of decoy drones meant to overwhelm Ukrainian defences as they try to protect against a horrific new weapon, an AP investigation has found. Russia came up with the plan for decoys in late 2022 and codenamed it Operation False Target.