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Zelensky says Trump 'willing, capable of achieving peace and ending Putin’s aggression'

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Zelensky says Trump 'willing, capable of achieving peace and ending Putin’s aggression'
French President Emmanuel Macron (C), President-elect Donald Trump (R), and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) after their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France on Dec. 7, 2024. (Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images)

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his New Year video greeting late on Dec. 31 that no one would give peace to his country as a gift, but he believed the United States would stand together with Ukraine as it fights to stop Russia's full-scale invasion.

In a 20-minute address, Zelensky thanked the U.S. for providing a wide array of critical military equipment, including 39 multiple-launch rocket systems, 301 Howitzer artillery weapons, and over 300 million units of ammunition.

Zelensky added that he has "no doubt that the new American President is willing and capable of achieving peace and ending Putin’s aggression."

"(President-elect Donald Trump) understands that the first is impossible without the second. Because this is not a street fight where you have to calm down both sides. This is the full-scale aggression of a mad state against a civilized one," Zelensky said. "And I believe that we, together with the United States, are capable of exerting that force."

Zelensky also recalled conversations with outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden, and "everyone who supports us in the United States".

The Biden administration has provided the most substantial military support to Ukraine among Western nations since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. As of December 2024, the United States had committed over $60 billion in military aid and $26 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine, dwarfing the contributions of other major donors such as Germany ($11.4 billion) and the U.K. ($10.1 billion).

US sends $3.4 billion in financial aid to Ukraine
The United States made a $3.4 billion payment in direct budget support to Ukraine, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced on Dec. 30.
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Olena Goncharova

Head of North America desk

Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

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At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, foreigners flocked to Ukraine to join its defense against Russian forces. More than three years later, the foreign fighters who remain are a different breed — driven by a deep commitment to Ukraine.

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