Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Russia was preparing to wage a "new year of war" against his country in 2026, after his counterpart Vladimir Putin said Moscow would "certainly" achieve its objectives.
"Today, we heard another signal from Moscow that they are preparing to make next year a year of war," Zelensky said in his regular evening speech, foreign media wrote, according to the Telegraph.
The statement was a reaction to Putin, who earlier said Russia would achieve its goals in its offensive in Ukraine, including capturing Ukrainian territories it claims as its own, amid a flurry of international diplomacy to end the war.
"The goals of the special military operation will certainly be achieved," Putin said at a meeting with defense ministry officials in Moscow, using the Kremlin's wording for the nearly four-year war.
"We would prefer to do this and eliminate the root causes of the conflict through diplomacy," he said, vowing to take back Ukrainian lands that Russia claims to have annexed "by military means" if "the opposing country and its foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive discussions."
Putin's aggressive comments come as Ukraine on Monday hailed "progress" made on the issue of future security guarantees for Kiev, after two days of talks with US President Donald Trump's envoys in Berlin.
But according to Zelensky, differences remain on the issue of which territories Ukraine should cede to Russia.
Washington's initial proposal - criticized by Ukraine and its allies as too favorable to Russia - would have seen Kiev withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognize the Donetsk, Crimea and Luhansk regions as Russian. /Telegrafi/
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