Kiev, Ukraine:
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he told US President-elect Donald Trump that Kiev needs a “lasting” peace that Russia will not “destroy” in the future, after they met in Paris for talks on the almost three years' war.
Trump had previously said Zelensky wanted a “deal” and called for negotiations to start.
The pair met French leader Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee a day earlier.
Trump has boasted that he could end the conflict quickly without saying how, and both Moscow and Kiev are preparing for his arrival at the White House, with the long-running conflict seeing an escalation of deadly attacks in recent weeks.
“I have stated that we need a just and lasting peace – a peace that the Russians will not be able to destroy in a few years, as they have repeatedly done in the past,” Zelensky said on social media.
Nearly three years of war have ravaged Ukraine, leaving thousands dead and millions fleeing the country.
“Ukrainians want peace more than anyone. Russia has brought war to our country, and it is Russia that is trying most to disrupt the possibility of peace,” he said.
He called on Western allies “not to turn a blind eye to the occupation” and said Kiev would only agree to a deal that will bring long-term peace.
“War cannot be endless – only peace must be permanent and reliable,” he said.
In a rare admission, Zelensky said 43,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed in the fighting, while around 370,000 were injured.
Both sides are believed to have suffered huge losses, but the figure is much higher.
'Important terms' discussed
Zelenskiy did not provide concrete details on key aspects of what the negotiations could look like, but a senior Ukrainian official said they had discussed “some important conditions” for ending the war.
“We are not disclosing details, but the presidents discussed during the meeting that there must be something that would guarantee the reliability of peace,” the source said.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of “refusing” to negotiate an end to the war and said the conditions for entering into peace talks – including Kiev giving up four regions – remain unchanged.
“The Ukrainian side refused and refuses to negotiate,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
He referred to a 2022 Ukrainian decree that rules out talks with Putin, but not with other Russian officials.
Trump had previously called for an “immediate ceasefire” and called for talks to begin.
“Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it continues, it could spiral into something much bigger and much worse,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump has touted himself as having a good relationship with Putin.
'How long can we be at war?
But as leaders made statements in Kiev, Moscow and Paris, the situation on the ground in eastern Ukraine remained dire.
Moscow on Sunday claimed another village in the east – Blagodatne in the Donetsk region – and made steady gains.
Many in Ukraine fear that Trump taking office would force the country to make heartbreaking concessions to Russia, while also suffering from exhaustion.
In the village of Osynovo in the eastern Kharkov region, news of the meeting between Trump and Zelensky offered some hope to one of the last remaining residents of the frontline village, Mykola Lytvynov.
As he cleaned the soil of vegetables in his backyard, the 80-year-old said he hoped the meeting could help bring about a negotiated end to the conflict.
“How long can we stay at war? So many people have been killed, so many young people. And you see the enormous level of destruction,” he told AFP.
He suggested that Ukraine could have retained more of its territory by already engaging in talks with Russia, but said he hoped for an end to the fighting for another, personal reason.
“Both my sons are fighting. I just want them to survive.”
Ukraine also said two civilians were killed in the Donetsk region and seven people were injured in attacks in the southern Kherson region.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
