Zelenskiy vows to do everything in 2025 to stop Russia
- 1 January, 13:02
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed that his country would do everything in 2025 to fight Russia’s full-fledged invasion that has entered the third year.
In a New Year address to the nation on Tuesday before the clock struck midnight, Zelenskiy said: "May 2025 be our year. We know that peace will not be given to us as a gift but we will do everything to stop Russia and end the war."
Zelenskiy stressed that Ukraine had to continue to fight to gain the upper hand ahead of any prospective peace talks. "Every day in the coming year, I, and all of us, must fight for a Ukraine that is strong enough," Zelenskiy said. "Because only such a Ukraine is respected and heard. Both on the battlefield and at the negotiating table."
Stressing that both outgoing US president Joe Biden and the president elect Donald Trumps support Ukraine, Zelenskiy stressed: “I have no doubt that the new American president wants and will be able to bring peace and end Putin’s aggression.”
Donald Trump’s victory in November’s presidential election has raised fears in Kyiv that Ukraine could lose the support of its closest ally US. Trump has threatened to terminate military aid to Ukraine and promised to end the war as soon as possible. On Monday, Joe Biden announced another military aid package worth $6 billion in a race to support Ukraine before he leaves office in January. It should be noted that Ukraine lost seven times more territory to Russia last year than in 2023.
