Kyiv [Ukraine], November 24: President Volodymyr Zelensky says he sees possibilities that the Russian war against Ukraine can be ended in the coming year.
"When will the war end? When Russia wants the war to end. When the United States takes a stronger position. When the Global South stands with Ukraine and stands with the end of the war," Zelensky said in a conversation with representatives of foreign media in Kiev at the third international conference on food security called Grain from Ukraine.
Zelensky said Saturday that he is confident that all these measures will be implemented and decisions will be made sooner or later. "It won't be an easy road, but I am confident that we have every chance of making it next year," Zelensky was further quoted by the Ukrinform agency as saying.
"We are open to proposals from leaders of African, Asian and Arab states," Zelensky continued. "I would also like to hear the proposals of the new president of the United States of America and I think we will hear them in January and we will have a plan to end this war." During his election campaign, US President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly suggested that he wanted to scale back massive US military support for Kiev.
He has since stopped short of his earlier declaration that he could end the war within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia will continue to test and start mass-producing the hypersonic ballistic missile that it fired at Ukraine Thursday.
The experimental strike on Thursday marked a decisive moment in Moscow's war and capped off a dramatic week that has transformed the conflict. The firing of the missile came after the White House authorized Ukraine to fire its long-range missiles into Russia.
In a televised meeting with the leadership of Russia's defense ministry, Putin claimed the missile could not be intercepted by air defences and said Russia will begin serial production of the new weapon.
"There are currently no means of countering such a missile, no means of intercepting it, in the world. And I will emphasize once again: We will continue testing the latest system," Putin said.
Putin added Russia was developing "several similar systems" for further testing.
"Based on the test results, these weapons will also go into production. That is, we are developing a whole line of medium- and shorter-range systems," he said.
Putin's comments come a day after Russia fired the "Oreshnik" missile - which contains multiple warheads - at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
Zelensky condemned the attack, saying in a video posted on Telegram that "today, our crazy neighbor has once again shown who he really is and how he despises dignity, freedom and human life in general."
Zelensky said that Ukraine was holding meetings with its allies about developing "new air defense systems" in response to the new threat from Russia.
Two US officials and one Western official told CNN that the "experimental" ballistic missile carried multiple warheads, in what may be the first time such a weapon has been used in war.
Meanwhile, advancing Russian troops and Ukrainian defenders continue to engage in fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian military officials.
In its morning report on Saturday, the Ukrainian General Staff in Kiev cited the comparatively high number of 194 attacks since Friday morning.
"The enemy is using its superiority in men and materiel and is constantly attacking our positions," the general staff said. On the Pokrovsk front section in the Donetsk region alone, 44 attacks were counted, although the military data cannot be verified in detail.
There were 36 Russian assaults near the extremely vulnerable town of Kurakhove. According to situation maps, a cauldron is threatening to form to the south of the town, from which it is likely to be difficult for the Ukrainian soldiers to withdraw. The Ukrainian military blog DeepState also referred to the Russian advance near Velyka Novosilka in the south of the Donetsk region.
Source: Qatar Tribune