KYIV, Ukraine — On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale war on his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he is ready to end the conflict “as quickly as possible” — but not at the expense of surrendering territory.
Zelensky said he agreed with President Trump that there should be a “fast track” to end the war that has killed roughly 15,000 civilians and hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian troops.
“President Trump would like to finalize this war as quickly as possible,” he told reporters at a press conference in Ukraine. “We support that — but not a fast track to give away our territory.”
He further clarified that the US president has given no deadline to end the war, nor issued any ultimatums.
For more than a year, Trump has been pushing Ukraine and Russia to agree to a resolution. But sending envoys to talk with both Kyiv and Kremlin officials has done little to push the needle to end the war.
Over the same time period, Ukraine saw a 31% jump in civilian casualties, spiking from 8,625 killed and injured in 2024 to 11,226 in 2025.
The main issue continues to be Russia’s demand that Ukraine hand over its Donbas region — including the roughly 15% that remains under Ukrainian control.
One major change over the past year is that the US has stopped purchasing new weapons for Ukraine, with President Trump instead starting the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL program, which see Europe purchasing weapons from America, which are then provided to Ukraine.
“Today’s war is a big pressure on Europe, because only they are buying weapons,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky said the US has been able to facilitate some measured progress in recent trilateral talks, with the militaries of the US, Ukraine and Russia agreeing “how monitoring would work after a cease-fire” — should one occur.
He also said Kyiv and Moscow agreed on a “huge” number of prisoners of war to turn over to one another in a future exchange, but he declined to say how many.
An answer is expected in “a week to 10 days” when he expects another round of trilateral talks to occur, Zelensky said.
Kyiv has been open to all cease-fire suggestions since Trump first called for an unconditional end to the killing in March of last year. However, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has consistently resisted a lasting end to the firing.
The strain of four years of war has also taken a personal toll on Zelensky, once known as a high-energy comedian before entering politics. Now, he said, he feels “older and wiser.”
Asked how the war has changed him, Zelensky said the past four years have been consumed by “only serious things.”
“Personally, I have been without friends,” he said. “I don’t have time for friends or friendship.”
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