Vladimir Putin has already started World War III, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
The President of Ukraine said the only things that could stop the Russian leader were a military counterattack and economic pressure.
He told the BBC: ‘I believe that Putin has already started it. The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him.
‘…Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves.’
Another great war started when Kremlin forces began their full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2020.
Zelensky added: ‘Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves.’
The president also appeared to comment on Donald Trump’s peace proposal that would involve surrendering swaths of land to Putin.
‘I don’t look at it simply as land. I see it as abandonment – weakening our positions, abandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there,’ Zelensky said.
‘That is how I see it. And I am sure that this “withdrawal” would divide our society.’
Since January 2024, Russia has seized 1.5% of Ukrainian territory and occupies about 20% of the country, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Under Trump’s 28-point plan, the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, along with Crimea, would be essentially recognised as Russian land.
Moscow would also keep the parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions it occupies.
Ukraine has long refused to surrender land to the Kremlin, arguing that the loss of some 600,000 Ukrainian troops should not be wasted.
It should also be a decision that the Ukrainian people have a say in, with Kyiv considering putting to a referendum.
That, and Putin would unlikely stop at just land, Zelensky added.
‘Once he recovers, our European partners say it could take three to five years. In my opinion, he could recover in no more than a couple of years. Where would he go next?
‘We do not know, but that he would want to continue [the war] is a fact.’
Germany warned in November that Nato – the defence alliance that includes most European powers as members – is likely Putin’s next target.
Nevertheless, Zelensky said that as the war nears its four-year mark, victory will ultimately be Ukraine’s.
He said: ‘Will we lose? Of course not, because we are fighting for Ukraine’s independence.
‘We’ll do it. That is absolutely clear. It is only a matter of time.
‘To do it today would mean losing a huge number of people – millions of people – because the [Russian] army is large, and we understand the cost of such steps.
‘You would not have enough people, you would be losing them. And what is land without people? Honestly, nothing.’
Zelensky stressed, however, that Ukraine needs more powerful weapons to achieve this.
While Trump’s vision of a way to halt the war has leaned on capitulating to Putin, Zelensky says the US isn’t just the president – it’s Congress, too.
‘Presidents change, but institutions stay,’ he added.
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