Ukraine's war will end faster once Donald Trump becomes US president, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
These comments come after Zelensky called Trump to congratulate him on his landslide victory in the US elections.
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“It is certain that the war will end soon according to the policies of the team that will now lead the White House,” Zelensky said in an interview with Ukrainian public radio Sospilin.
“This is their approach, and this is their promise to their citizens.”
Zelensky added that Ukraine “must do everything to ensure that the war ends next year through diplomatic means.”
Trump had previously said that he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours.
His unconfirmed plan calls for the creation of a demilitarized zone below the closed front line as well as Kiev agreeing not to join NATO for 20 years.
In return, the United States will hypothetically continue to arm Ukraine to the teeth to prevent Putin from invading it again.
However, the United States will not send troops to enforce the buffer zone or fund the mission.
“We are not sending American men and women to support peace in Ukraine,” a member of Trump's team told the Wall Street Journal.
“And we're not paying for it. Ask the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it.”
This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Trump on his historic election victory, and said that Moscow is ready to talk about resolving the conflict.
“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America,” he said, speaking at the Valdai Debate Club in Sochi on Thursday.
But analysts from the Institute for the Study of War say an upbeat Putin is already dictating tough conditions for a deal as his forces continue to make territorial gains.
“The way the Kremlin is trying to set its terms for negotiations strongly suggests that Russia’s goals remain unchanged and remain tantamount to a complete surrender of Ukraine,” the group said.
“The Kremlin does not appear to be willing to make any more concessions to the incoming Trump administration than it has been to the current administration.”
It seems likely that embattled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – who has pledged not to surrender an inch to tyrant Putin – will concede in exchange for security guarantees.
Peace terms speculated so far include a freeze on the front lines and a deal to end the war if Ukraine agrees not to join NATO.
But Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned ominously that no peace talks would take place until the West stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also claimed that the beginning of Trump's presidency would change little – and avoided suggestions that the current front lines could be frozen.
“Lavrov’s pre-emptive rejection of a potential proposal to freeze the current frontline suggests that Russia is not interested in softening its approach,” the Center for War think-tank analysts concluded.
“Zakharova and Lavrov’s statements also undermine Putin’s recent efforts to feign interest in preparing to ‘restore’ US-Russian relations with the new US president.
“Putin likely takes for granted that the Trump administration will acquiesce to the Kremlin’s interests and preferences without the Kremlin making any concessions in return.”
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North Korean forces will escape Putin's army when they reach the front lines
Written by James Halpin
A North Korean defector has claimed that entire units of North Korean troops fighting alongside Putin will be surrendered once they reach the front lines.
Hyun Seung Lee, a soldier in Kim's army in the early 2000s, says forces in Russia would be looking to escape the battle in Ukraine “from the beginning.”
It is believed that the troops are not ready for the front line and will be used as “human shields” by Russian soldiers.
Kim Jong Un has sent the Storm Corps, the country's equivalent of special forces, to fight for Vlad while his war continues to stall.
The 10,000-strong force is set to be deployed on the battlefield in the coming days as the Russian despot looks to reclaim Kursk.
Questions have been raised about how well Korean soldiers could fight after having not seen combat since the Vietnam War and with units armed, clothed and manned by the Russians.
The soldiers in North Korea will be forced to leave and will be young, so they will not be committed to fighting, Lee told The Sun.
“It will be individuals at first, but over time, I think there will be a greater number of collective defectors, including officers,” he said.
This is because, Lee says, the Russians will likely treat them as “expendable” and even worse than their own forces.
“Russian soldiers do not respect them as fellow warriors,” he said.
“They will treat them as their human shields.”
Eventually, the North Koreans will realize the hierarchy and how the Russians view them as “disposable” and will look to flee, Lee said.
He added: “I think they will die without any effect.”
“Putin and Kim Jong Un expect more from them… They will not get the results they expect.”
But North Korean soldiers may think twice before defecting because they could see their families thrown into prison.
Pyongyang is guilty under the policy of engagement; If their fellow northern soldiers saw them defecting, their families could be put in prison.
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