Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that he hopes the United States and Europe will be involved in potential talks to end his country’s war with Russia.
Speaking at a press conference alongside the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, Zelensky stated that Ukraine must also be included in any negotiations for ending the war, so that the talks have a meaningful impact.
“As for who will be part of the negotiations, I sincerely hope that Ukraine will be there, along with America, Europe, and Russia,” Zelensky said.
Later, he clarified that no framework for the talks has yet been established.
“Yes, I would very much like Europe to be involved because we will be members of the European Union,” he added.
Zelensky said he believes U.S. President Donald Trump could bring an end to the war, but added that this could only happen if Ukraine is also included in the talks.
“Otherwise, it won’t work. Because Russia does not want the war to end, while Ukraine wants to end it,” he said.
During his presidential campaign last year, Trump repeatedly claimed that he would end the war quickly, and he reiterated this just days before taking office. Now, he says it could take months to achieve this.
In recent days, Trump has made some of his harshest comments to date regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he has often spoken admiringly.
On January 22, Trump, addressing his Russian counterpart by name, warned Moscow that it would face tariffs, taxes, and “high” new sanctions if it did not quickly halt its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
He also suggested that he would impose additional sanctions on Russia if Putin did not agree to peace talks to end the war.
On Friday, Putin said he wanted to meet with Trump to discuss Ukraine. He cited a 2022 decree by Zelensky, which bans negotiations with Putin, as an obstacle to talks.
Zelensky said during the conference on Saturday that he issued this ban to prevent Putin from establishing alternative communication channels with Ukrainian interlocutors, according to REL.
Zelensky added that Russia had repeatedly attempted to do so before he signed the decree.
The war in Ukraine began in 2014 with the illegal annexation of Crimea by the Kremlin and escalated with Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
