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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the Trump administration to impose tougher sanctions on the families of Russia’s leadership and provide Ukraine with more advanced weapons, arguing that only increased pressure would force Moscow to take negotiations seriously.
Speaking in an interview with British broadcaster Sky News, Zelenskyy said Washington has the power to end the war but must exert greater pressure on Russia.
“The United States is even stronger than it thinks,” he said. “They really have pressure on Putin. They can stop this war.”
Zelenskyy said sanctions targeting Russia’s political elite and their families would send a clear signal, while additional military support would strengthen Ukraine’s position both on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.
He reiterated that Ukraine remains open to talks and said he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin if it would help bring about peace.
Asked how close Ukraine is to reaching peace, Zelenskyy said there is a limited window between now and the U.S. midterm elections in November.
“Now I think that we have a chance,” he said. “These months are decisive. If it is possible to finish the war before autumn, before the elections in the United States, then we have this window.”
When asked whether Ukraine could win the war, Zelenskyy said the outcome depends on how victory is defined, acknowledging the difficulty of reclaiming all occupied territory through military means alone.
“It is very difficult to speak about territories,” he said. “To get back all of the land today would mean too many losses of people’s lives. But Russia also cannot do it on the battlefield. That’s why they are not winning, and we are not losing.”
Zelenskyy was unequivocal on the issue of surrendering eastern strongholds such as Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, calling it a red line.
“It’s our territory,” he said. “It sounds unbelievably strange that we would withdraw from our land.”
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He warned that withdrawing would leave hundreds of thousands of civilians under Russian occupation, exposing them to forced conscription, imprisonment or violence.
“Who said these people want to be Russian?” he asked.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
The war has devastated cities, killed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, and displaced millions.
Russia, Ukraine and the United States have previously held three rounds of peace talks—on Jan. 23–24, Feb. 4–5 and Feb. 17–18—with the most recent round taking place in Geneva after earlier meetings in the United Arab Emirates.
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