Russia has said the Ukraine war will continue until it meets its aims – either on the battlefield or via negotiations – as its spy chief claimed it was close to achieving them.
President Putin wants Ukraine to fully pull out of four eastern regions it claims as its own, but Kyiv rejects that as a form of surrender.
President Zelenskyy has indicated a diplomatic ceasefire is possible however, and incoming US president Donald Trump has urged both sides to agree on an immediate truce.
Mr Zelenskyy told Sky’s Stuart Ramsay the “hot phase of the war” could end if unoccupied parts of the country were offered NATO membership, allowing him to negotiate the return of the rest later.
He has also raised the prospect of foreign troops being deployed in the free parts of Ukraine until it could join NATO.
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‘Ukraine are on the verge of collapse’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Russia would not end its campaign “until all the objectives set by the president and commander-in-chief have been achieved”.
“These goals can be achieved as a result of the special military operation or a result of relevant negotiations,” he said, adding that no talks were currently under way.
Russia’s spy chief Sergei Naryshkin also said his country was close to achieving its goals in Ukraine.
Mr Naryshkin told the official publication of the Kremlin’s SVR foreign intelligence agency that Russia had the initiative in all areas and “the situation on the front is not in Kyiv’s favour”.
“We are close to achieving our goals, while the armed forces of Ukraine are on the verge of collapse,” Mr Naryshkin claimed.
Russia initially hoped to rapidly capture the whole of Ukraine when it invaded in February 2022.
That goal has been significantly pared back due to Ukraine’s strong resistance, although Moscow has slowly been edging forward in recent months.
‘Stop the madness’ – Trump
President-elect Trump has vowed to bring the war to a rapid end and wants negotiations to begin.
He wrote on social media on Sunday that President Zelenskyy and Ukraine “would like to make a deal and stop the madness”.
Calling for an “immediate ceasefire”, he added: “I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The world is waiting!”
Speaking separately to NBC News, Mr Trump wouldn’t confirm if he had spoken to Russia’s leader as he didn’t want “to do anything that could impede the negotiation”.
The incoming president also had a chance to speak with Ukraine’s leader at the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday.
Mr Zelenskyy called it “constructive” but warned on Telegram that Ukraine needs a “just and robust peace, that Russians will not destroy within a few years”.
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Ukraine recently got permission to use US and UK-supplied missiles to attack targets inside Russia, prompting Moscow to use what it said was a new type of hypersonic missile in retaliation.
Kyiv still holds territory in Russia’s Kursk region after a surprise move across the border in August, but troops from North Korea are now believed to be helping Russian forces near the frontline.
Casualty figures are rarely given, but President Zelenskyy said at the weekend that 43,000 of his personnel had died and 370,000 had been wounded.
He also claimed 198,000 Russian soldiers had died. The Kremlin does not disclose its losses.
Mr Zelenskyy’s admission is believed to have been a response to Donald Trump’s claim that 400,000 Ukrainians had been “lost” in the war. He also said “close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead”.
