‘Strong and unpredictable’: Zelenskyy says those signs of Trump could help end the war with Russia

US President-elect Donald Trump is “strong and unpredictable,” and those qualities could be a deciding factor in his policy approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

However, Zelenskyy said that it would not be possible to end almost three years of war in one day, as Trump said in his election campaign that he could do it.

“The ‘hot’ phase of the war can end quickly, if Trump is in power in his place,” Zelenskyy said in an interview on Ukrainian television late Thursday, referring to the fighting on the battlefield.

“I believe [Trump] it is dynamic and unpredictable. I would very much like President Trump’s unpredictability to be directed specifically at the Russian Federation,” Zelenskyy said.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has not yet publicly finalized his policy on Ukraine but his previous comments have raised the question of whether the United States will continue to be Ukraine’s largest country – and most importantly – military supporter.

Zelenskyy is determined to ensure that Washington’s support keeps coming, and he met with Trump in New York even before last November’s US presidential election.

The trajectory of the war is not in Ukraine’s favor

With the war set to enter its fourth year next month, and with Trump taking office, the question of how and when Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II could happen has already been raised.

Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine and last year exploited weaknesses in Ukraine’s defenses to make slow advances in eastern areas despite heavy losses of troops and equipment.

The course of the war is not in Ukraine’s favor. The country is short-handed and needs continued support from its Western partners.

Trump responded well to the possibility of French President Emmanuel Macron of Western troops being sent to Ukraine to monitor the ceasefire agreement, said Zelenskyy. He met Trump and Macron in Paris last month.

“But I raised the issue, I said we didn’t hear which countries will join this program, and whether the US will be there,” said Zelenskyy.

The leader of Ukraine is determined for his country to become a member of NATO. The alliance’s 32 member states say Ukraine will join one day, but only until the war ends.

“Deployment of European troops [to keep the peace in Ukraine] should not exclude Ukraine’s future from NATO,” Zelenskyy said in a televised interview.

Zelenskyy described the entry of Ukrainian troops into Russia’s Kursk border as “the strongest blow” to any future peace talks.

In an effort to combat the grim news from the front, Ukraine seized part of Kursk last August in what was Russia’s first occupation of the area since World War II.

But the offensive did not significantly change the dynamics of the war, and military analysts say Ukraine has lost 40 percent of the land it initially captured.

Nevertheless, Zelenskyy said that this success impressed the countries of Asia, South America and Africa and tarnished the reputation of the Russian military.

‘Stability before was important’

Zelenskyy also said he wants to ensure that any US plan to resolve the conflict takes Ukraine’s views into account.

“It cannot be otherwise. We are Ukraine and it is our independence, our land and our future.” He also hoped that the Trump administration could quickly communicate with Russia. Putin said that Moscow is open to negotiations, but they must take into account Russia’s success in the war and its annexation of four regions of Ukraine.

As Russian forces capture town after town on the eastern front at the fastest pace since the February 2022 offensive, Zelenskyy said the stability of the case is important.

“They are putting pressure on our tired boys and that is true. We will do everything to at least stabilize the field in January,” he said.

Zelenskyy, who was elected in 2019, also said that new elections will not be held as long as the state of emergency is still in place, but he said that he would consider running again when conditions allow.

“I don’t know how this war will end,” he said. “If I can do more than what I know, then I will probably consider such a decision [seeking a new term] very well. At the moment this is not my intention.”