Zelensky says wants to end war by diplomacy next year
Zelensky says wants to end war by diplomacy next year
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Kyiv would like to end the war with Russia next year through "diplomatic means", as both countries prepare for Donald Trump's return to the White…
The prospect of Trump returning to power in the United States next year has raised questions about the future of the conflict, as the Republican has been critical of US military aid to Kyiv. Zelensky spoke a day after saying the war will end "sooner" than it otherwise would have done once Trump becomes president.
He also spoke a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin held his first phone call with a major Western leader, speaking to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who initiated the call despite Kyiv's objections.
"For our part, we must do everything we can to ensure that this war ends next year. We have to end it by diplomatic means," Zelensky said in an interview with Ukrainian radio.
There have been no meaningful talks between Russia and Ukraine, but Trump's re-election has plunged the attritional conflict's future into uncertainty, with the Republican repeatedly promising to cut a quick deal to end the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he will only accept talks with Ukraine if Kyiv surrenders Ukrainian territory that Moscow occupies. The Kremlin said he repeated that demand in the phone conversation with Scholz on Friday. Zelensky has rejected Putin's conditions.
Zelensky said on Saturday that Russian forces were suffering heavy losses and that the advance had "slowed down" in some areas. Ukraine was "at war with a state that does not value its people, that has a lot of equipment, that does not care how many people die", he added.
I mean without support from the USA and the EU the Russians will steamroll Ukraine. So it's better to end it now that there is still some room for bargaining than just let putin win.
If the EU has just a bit of spine we'll take over the burden. Otherwise Ukraine will be a stepping stone for putin to go and invade the rest of the ex-URSS countries.
We must absolutely not give any victory to putin, or he'll just continue (and others will be encouraged to do the same).
The EU gives more to Ukraine than the USA, but we need to step up the arms deliveries if the muricans back down.
The problem isn't simply the US not sending arms to Ukraine and the the EU compensating for it. Do you really want to get into a military technology pissing match with the United States? Because the problem you have is if the Trump begins sending arms to Russia in response to the EU "prolonging the war" by making up for the US no longer arming Ukraine, you're going to realize just how weak the NATO military alliance actually is.
Oh, but what about the US's NATO obligations, you might say. Well, Trump has long wanted to leave NATO. Trump's team has already pointed out that there is executive authority over foreign policy, and they will argue Trump therefore has the authority to unilaterally withdraw from NATO. And it's quite possible he will, especially if NATO countries align to defy his attempt to end the war by increasing the arms they send to Ukraine.
It's important to note that without the United States, NATO's collective defense capability would be crippled. The U.S. accounts for 68% of total NATO defense spending, providing the backbone of the alliance's military power, advanced technology, and rapid response capabilities. This dominance means that European allies, even collectively, cannot match the U.S. in terms of strategic lift, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, or modern weapons systems, all of which are critical to NATO operations.
U.S. withdrawal would leave a power vacuum that Europe is neither financially nor militarily equipped to fill, effectively gutting NATO's ability to deter or respond to threats. Without the U.S., NATO as a credible military alliance would collapse under its own weight, leaving its members exposed and vulnerable to external aggressors. If the EU is worried about Russia continuing to expand its territory through force, the best way to make that happen would be to piss off the United States. Trump wouldn't even need to do anything except leave. If he's also arming Russia, say good night.
The EU is in no position to dictate terms or defy the will of the US in terms of military priorities. If you want to do that, than you need all member countries to dramatically reorganize their federal budgets to significantly amplify military spending. Very few if any EU countries a) have the political will to do this b) have the economy to afford this, and c) have the means to actually accomplish this. If Trump says the war is over, there is very little the EU can realistically do about it without making their situation dramatically worse.
Sad to say, this is truly a geo-political "fuck around and find out" situation for the EU.
Could've just done this in back in 2022... Trump is gonna take credit for ending the war now.