Zelensky acknowledged the tough circumstances his military is in currently during an interview with Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne, which was published Saturday, but emphasized that the conflict has to end “next year through diplomatic means”.

The Ukrainian leader told the outlet the conflict “will end faster with the policy of this team that will now lead the White House,” referencing the incoming Republican administration.

Trump has repeatedly said on the campaign trail that the invasion, which has been ongoing for over two-and-half years, would not have occurred if he was still in the White House and argued he could end the conflict in one day without elaborating on exactly how.

“This is their approach, their promise to their society, and it is also very important to them,” Zelensky said in the interview.

The Russian military has made advances in parts of southeastern and eastern Ukraine as it also prepares to kick off a counteroffensive in the Kursk region, an area where Kyiv made gains in August.

“There is a slow but steady pressure and advance of the Russians,” Zelensky stated but also pointed to losses the Russian military sustained in recent weeks.

Following Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, Zelensky said he had a productive conversation with the president-elect, a phone call that was joined by billionaire Elon Musk.

“This is the kind of America that Europe needs. And a strong Europe is what America needs, to my mind,” the Ukrainian leader noted earlier this month.

“This is the connection between allies that must be valued and cannot be lost,” he added.

Scholz spoke with Putin for the first time in nearly two years. The German chancellor condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine, urged the Russian leader to withdraw his troops, and discussed potential talks with Kyiv.

Scholz had informed Zelensky in advance of his intention to call Putin. Zelensky reportedly responded, “This will just make Putin feel that the isolation is decreasing”, according to Suspilne, citing an undisclosed source in the Presidential Office.

In his evening address, Zelensky criticized any negotiations that could ease Russia’s isolation without meaningful outcomes.

“It is extremely important for Putin to loosen his isolation, Russia’s isolation, and to conduct ordinary negotiations that will not result in anything — as he has been doing for decades,” Zelensky added.

“This has allowed Russia to change nothing in its police, to do nothing in essence, and this is exactly what led to this war.”

Zelensky also reiterated that there would be no “Minsk-3”, referencing the Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015, which proposed creating autonomous zones in Russian-occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts but excluded mention of occupied Crimea.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry also expressed concerns over the Scholz-Putin call, stating that such lengthy conversations have been a tool Putin has exploited for over 20 years, now providing him hope for easing his international isolation.

“Even if the German chancellor did not express any positions contradicting Ukraine’s stance, conversations with the Russian dictator do not add value in achieving a just peace,” the ministry announced in a statement.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine and Russia held talks in Istanbul in March 2022, but the negotiations were eventually abandoned after Ukrainian retook the north of the country and mass war crimes were discovered in the liberated areas.

In comments to Ukraine’s Peace Summit in June this year, Zelensky stated the Istanbul talks failed because of the Russian side’s “ultimatums”.