Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia and Ukraine were at the “beginning of the end” of Europe’s biggest conflict since the second world war, but urged Washington to see through Vladimir Putin’s negotiating “games”.
In a wide-ranging FT interview on the eve of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian president warned that without firm western security guarantees Moscow would use a ceasefire to rebuild its forces for another assault.
Zelenskyy also urged the EU to stop prevaricating and to fix a date for Ukraine’s accession to the bloc, saying it should be as early as 2027.
“I want a date. I am asking for it,” he said. “Let us not allow the next leaders or the next generation to face a situation where Russia blocks Ukraine’s EU membership for 50 years.”
Speaking from his presidential office in Kyiv, Zelenskyy accused Russia’s leader of using overtures to Donald Trump to weaken Kyiv’s negotiating position. Asked how peace talks were progressing, he said the “Russians are playing games” and not serious about bringing the war to a close.
“I see it, because they are very poor actors. They are playing with Trump and playing with the entire world. That’s how it is,” said the former film star turned Ukrainian president. “Putin thinks he looks convincing and that he can be trusted. No — he is a bad actor.”
Earlier this month, Zelenskyy claimed Russian officials had dangled a package of economic co-operation deals with the US worth as much as $12tn, citing his intelligence services. He said the offer contained provisions “about Ukraine” that would potentially exploit natural resources in territories under Russian occupation.
He rejected the Russian president’s suggestions that Ukraine would use a temporary halt in fighting to regroup for an offensive. “It is demagoguery and lies,” he said. “Look at who benefits from such claims.” He added Moscow was mobilising 40,000 troops a month and losing 35,000. “A pause is needed by them no less than by us.”
“Ukraine needs a ceasefire — yesterday, today, tomorrow,” he said. “We don’t need a pause. We need the end of the war.”
Citing Ukrainian intelligence assessments, Zelenskyy said Russia’s grinding battlefield advances in 2025 cost “an average of 167 people per kilometre of occupied territory”.
“You can see immediately what they are occupying and what they are not. Where they claim to be holding positions, you can see they are not holding anything,” he said, noting the large contested areas of the frontline.
“On the contrary, we have advanced,” he added, referring to recent gains in contested areas on the south-eastern front that he said had been aided by a ban on the unauthorised use of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system by Russian forces.
Zelenksyy’s push for an EU accession timetable comes as peace talks confront contentious issues including the sequencing of a ceasefire, territorial control and security guarantees. Kyiv insists any halt in fighting must be accompanied by binding commitments from western partners to deter future Russian offensives.
He said the US is convinced Putin will stop his war if Zelenskyy hands over the eastern Donbas territory, an idea he said was short-sighted.
“Honestly, I do not believe that this is all that Russia demands. Our withdrawal from Donbas, and then the war will end,” he said. “Russia is Russia, and you know, you cannot trust them.”
While the war rages, Zelenskyy also called on western allies to fund and license arms production in Ukraine, saying Kyiv is close to mass-producing new missiles that have penetrated Russian air defences.
He confirmed that Ukrainian-made FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles successfully hit a major missile production plant on Saturday deep inside Russia.
He said the pressure Trump had put on Kyiv to make concessions for peace was much greater than that applied on Moscow. But he said he remained hopeful that his counterpart in Washington would come around.
“What costs the Russians dearly is stopping their shadow fleet, stopping their companies, their ability to trade, to export energy resources from Russia, stopping sanctions evasion,” Zelenskyy said, calling on Trump to squeeze sectors that fund the Kremlin’s war machine.
“I hope President Trump and the US will pressure Russia and stop Putin,” he said. “But I rely primarily on Ukrainian citizens, our army, our production.”
Zelenskyy reiterated past statements that Trump was pressing Kyiv to make concessions to end the war and warned that any ceasefire without binding security guarantees would carry “big risks”.
“The war could start again. A ceasefire could collapse,” he said. “We don’t need a pause. We need the end of the war.”
Cartography by Steven Bernard