(Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on Sunday that strength and diplomacy must work together to bring the Russian war in Ukraine to an end and to ensure that such conflict does not happen again in the future.
“We understand very clearly that diplomacy has no prospects without strength,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
“But without a clear understanding of diplomatic goals, weapons alone will not do the job. That’s why strength and diplomacy must work hand in hand.”
This is the only way to secure a lasting peace and to prevent from wars such as the one Moscow has been waging against Kyiv from recurring, he added.
Zelenskiy, who has unrelentingly called for a “fair” end to the war, has lobbied the United States and its NATO allies to arm Kyiv and help force Russian President Vladimir Putin to peace, saying Ukraine is open only to “honest” diplomacy.
Ukraine has also been pleading with its allies to allow Kyiv the use of western long-range weapons to strike deep into Russian territory and undermine Moscow’s war infrastructure.
Zelenskiy’s call on Sunday for strengthening diplomatic efforts comes after former Republican President Donald Trump defeated his pro-Ukrainian Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, in U.S. presidential election.
During his election campaign, Trump said repeatedly that he could end the war in Ukraine “in a day,” but he never said how. On Thursday, Trump spoke with Putin and advised him not to escalate the war, a source told Reuters – a call that Kyiv said it had not been informed about.
The war, which Russia started with full-scale invasion on its smaller neighbour in February 2022, has killed thousands, turned cities and villages into rubble, and displaced millions of Ukrainians.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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