Zelensky Says Stakes Higher Than Ever, Takes Aim at Putin: ‘He Must Lose Now’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian leader Vladimir Putin of escalating the war so that US President-elect Donald Trump will be unable to achieve a negotiated settlement when he takes office in January.

He made the statement during his address to the nation on Thursday night, on America’s Thanksgiving holiday. 

“Putin clearly wants to add thousands more [troops]. He has no interest in ending this war,” Zelensky said. “Moreover, Putin wants to prevent others from ending this war. By wagging his ‘Oreshnik’ now, he is aiming solely to disrupt the efforts of President Trump that are sure to follow his inauguration.”

The Kremlin’s actions should be seen as direct responses to developments in American domestic politics and his desire for global domination. “Putin wants to escalate the situation now so that President Trump fails to end the war,” Zelensky said.

“That is why Putin's escalation now is a form of pressure aimed at eventually forcing the President of the United States to accept Russia’s terms. We are aware of all the existing threats,” he added. 

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This week, he called on all Ukrainians to take shelter whenever air raid alerts go off and missile threats are announced after Russia launched some of its biggest air attacks yet on the country over the last week. 

“This is a firm rule – a rule that does not depend on any statements coming from Russia. Right now, there may be even more attempts by Russia to spread fear and despair in Ukraine. We all need resilience to get through this. And we need unity with all our partners,” he said.

Zelensky stated that Putin is now doing what he always does: “Intimidating, dividing, and trying to break or destabilize each one of us individually”.

“He can do nothing else. He loses when he is isolated. And he must lose now. In everything. And it will be safe for everyone,” the president said.

Leadership in Kyiv criticized the Group of 20 (G20)’s weak position on Russia’s invasion last week. The 2024 summit ended with a statement that included just one paragraph mentioning only “human suffering” with regard to Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine – which recently passed 1,000 days, failing to even mention that Russia is the aggressor.

Last year’s summit declaration in New Delhi had seven paragraphs, including one that condemned Russia’s nuclear threats and called for an end to attacks on food and energy infrastructure.

“If we want good, normal relations between our nations, between our peoples, then, we should probably support people first, not aggressors, leaders of aggression in the world, like Putin, like today's modern Russia,” Zelensky said in a statement posted on the president’s website.

While the president said that the majority of Brazilian people support Ukraine, and thanked them for it, President Lula da Silva, who hosted the G20 Summit, showed a “weak position” on the war, Zelensky said.

“I do not believe that populism can stop Putin. I do not believe that cheap energy resources can protect your freedom for a long time. I believe this is a wrong step,” Zelensky said.