‘Strong and unpredictable’: Zelensky says these qualities of Trump could help stop a war with Russia

US President-elect Donald Trump is “strong and unpredictable” and these qualities could be a decisive factor in his policy on Russian interference in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

However, Zelensky said that it will not be possible to end the almost three-year war in one day, as Trump claimed during the election campaign.

“If Trump is strong in his position, the ‘hot’ stage of the war can end quite quickly,” Zelensky said in an interview with Ukrainian television on Thursday, referring to the battles on the battlefield.

“I believe (Trump) is strong and unpredictable. I would very much like President Trump’s unpredictability to be focused primarily on the Russian Federation,” Zelensky said.

Trump, who took office on January 20, has not publicly announced his policy on Ukraine, but his previous comments have raised questions about whether the United States will continue to be Ukraine’s biggest and most important military backer.

Zelensky is keen to guarantee Washington’s continued support, and he even met with Trump in New York ahead of last November’s US presidential election.

The course of the war is not in favor of Ukraine

With the war entering its fourth year next month and Trump taking office, questions have been raised about how and when Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II will end.

Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine and has made slow advances in eastern regions over the past year, exploiting weaknesses in Ukraine’s defenses despite high troop and equipment losses.

The course of the war is not in favor of Ukraine. The country is short-handed on the front line and needs the continued support of its Western partners.

Zelensky said that Trump has responded favorably to the possibility of French President Emmanuel Macron sending Western peacekeepers to Ukraine to monitor the ceasefire agreement. He met Trump and Macron in Paris last month.

“However, I raised an issue and said that we have not heard which countries will join this initiative and whether the United States will be there,” Zelensky said.

The leader of Ukraine is determined to become a member of NATO. The alliance’s 32 member states say Ukraine will join one day, but not until the war is over.

“The deployment of European troops (to maintain peace in Ukraine) should not exclude Ukraine’s future in NATO,” Zelensky said in a television interview.

Zelensky assessed the entry of Ukrainian forces into Russia’s Kursk border region as a “very strong trump card” in future peace negotiations.

Ukraine seized part of the city of Kursk last August in an effort to counter negative news from the front line. It was the first occupation of Russian territory after World War II.

But the intervention has not significantly changed the dynamics of the war, and military analysts say Ukraine has lost about 40 percent of the land it initially captured.

Nevertheless, Zelensky said that this achievement impressed the countries of Asia, South America and Africa and tarnished Russia’s military reputation.

“The stabilization of the front was very important”

Zelensky also said he wants to ensure that any US settlement plan takes Ukraine’s views into account.

“It cannot be otherwise. We are Ukraine and this is our independence, our land and our future.” He also expressed hope that the Trump administration would be able to quickly establish contact with Russia. Putin said Moscow is open to talks, but they must take into account Russia’s successes in the war and its annexation of four regions of Ukraine.

As Russian forces seize village after village on the eastern front in the fastest advance since the February 2022 invasion, Zelenskyy said stabilization on the front was essential.

“They are putting pressure on our exhausted boys and this is a fact. We will do everything to stabilize the front at least in January,” he said.

Zelenskiy, who was elected in 2019, reiterated that new elections cannot be held while the wartime state of emergency is in effect, but said he would consider running again once conditions permit.

“I don’t know how this war will end. “If I can do more than I can, then I will probably be more positive about such a decision (to seek a new term). For now, it is not a goal for me.”