The journalist asked if he was afraid of losing the war that has been going on for “the last four years” (in fact, the war has been going on since 2014).
“Of course. If we lose this war, we will simply lose the independence of our country. We have managed to maintain it so far. If we lose our independence, if we become part of Russia, it will be an absolutely monstrous loss, and I am sure that this will not happen,” Zelensky replied.
He promised that Ukraine will do everything to ensure that the war ends in the coming year, noting that peace is currently being negotiated in Abu Dhabi (UAE).
Zelensky noted that the Russian Federation demands the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the yet unoccupied part of Donbass, but at the same time the Russians “did not win a single victory during this war.” “In order for them to capture our east, they will need more than 800 thousand corpses, at least two years,” the President of Ukraine emphasized.
Context
Russia has been waging war against Ukraine since 2014, when Crimea was occupied and hostilities began in the Donbass. In February 2022, the Russian army made a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In 2025, after Donald Trump’s second arrival in the White House, the United States is trying to end the war in Ukraine, but, according to the media, they are putting pressure primarily on Ukraine, and not on the Russian Federation.
At the beginning of 2026, a series of negotiations began in a trilateral format, with the participation of representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the United States. They took place in Abu Dhabi 23rd And January 24and also on February 4 (Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov called them productive, “focused on specific steps and practical solutions”). Negotiations must continue.
