Zelensky wants ‘enduring’ peace

Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said Kyiv needed an “enduring” peace to protect it from Russia, after talks in Paris with US President-elect Donald Trump, who warned he would “probably” reduce aid to Ukraine.

Trump had earlier said Zelensky was keen for a “deal” and called for negotiations to start.

The pair met a day earlier with French leader Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee.

Trump, in an interview aired Sunday but recorded before the Saturday meeting, said his incoming administration would reduce aid to Ukraine, which Washington has been steadfastly backing since its invasion by Russia nearly three years ago.

“Possibly. Yeah, probably, sure,” Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Trump has boasted he could end the conflict swiftly without saying how. Moscow and Kyiv are readying for his arrival in the White House, with an escalation in deadly attacks in recent weeks in the drawn-out conflict.

The Ukrainian president, who had previously opposed any territorial concessions, has eased his position in recent months. His army is struggling on the front line and fears are mounting of dwindling Western aid.

Zelensky has floated the idea of temporarily forgoing Russian-controlled areas — about one fifth of Ukraine — in exchange for NATO security guarantees and weapons deliveries from the West.

“I stated that we need a just and enduring peace — one that the Russians will not be able to destroy in a few years, as they have done repeatedly in the past,” Zelensky said on social media.

Almost three years of war have ravaged Ukraine, killing thousands and leading millions to flee the country.

“Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else,” said Zelensky. “Russia brought war to our land, and it is Russia that most seeks to disrupt the possibility of peace.”

He called on Western allies not to “turn a blind eye to occupation” and said Kyiv would only agree to a deal that would bring long-term peace.

“War cannot be endless — only peace must be permanent and reliable,” he said.

In a rare admission of numbers, Zelensky said 43,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed in combat, while some 370,000 were wounded.

Russia has not put an official figure on its losses, but independent media outlet Mediazona and the Russian service of the BBC — working from publicly available data — have estimated they have lost more than 82,000 soldiers.

Some analysts believe the true figures on both sides could be higher.