Zelensky said he had a "constructive exchange" with Trump during their telephone conversation after his victory in the US presidential election.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, on Friday stated that Russia's war against his country will "end sooner" than it otherwise would have done once Donald Trump becomes United States president next year.
"It is certain that the war will end sooner with the policies of the team that will now lead the White House. This is their approach, their promise to their citizens," Zelensky said in an interview with Ukrainian media outlet, Suspilne.
"The war will end, but we don't know the exact date," he added.
Zelensky said he had a "constructive exchange" with Trump during their telephone conversation after his victory in the US presidential election.
He did not say whether Trump had made any demands regarding possible talks with Russia, but said he had not heard anything from him that was contrary to Ukraine’s position, according to the BBC.
The situation on the battlefield is difficult, with Russian forces making advances, Zelensky said.
He said US legislation only allows him to meet with Trump after his inauguration in January.
Trump has consistently said his priority is to end the war and stop what he says is a drain on US resources, in the form of military aid to Ukraine.
Throughout the election campaign, Trump criticised the tens of billions of dollars in aid provided for Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, and he promised he would resolve the conflict "in 24 hours", without ever explaining how.
Speaking at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida on Friday, Trump said "we're going to work very hard on Russia and Ukraine. It's got to stop."
Trump and Zelensky have long had a tumultuous relationship. Trump was impeached in 2019 over accusations that he pressured Zelensky to dig up damaging information on the Biden family.
Despite years of differences, Trump has insisted he had a very good relationship with Zelensky.
When the pair met in New York in September, Trump said he “learned a lot” from the meeting and said he would get the war "resolved very quickly".
Trump has yet to divulge how he intends to end the war.
His Democratic opponents have accused him of cosying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and say his approach to the war amounts to surrender for Ukraine that will endanger all of Europe.
But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who spoke with Trump following his election win, told German media that the incoming US leader had a "more nuanced" position on the war than was commonly assumed.
Scholz told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that his call with Trump was “perhaps surprisingly, a very detailed and good conversation”.
Earlier this year, the US House of Representatives approved a $61bn (£49bn) package in military aid for Ukraine to help combat Russia's invasion.
The US has been the biggest arms supplier to Ukraine - between February 2022 and the end of June 2024, it delivered or committed weapons and equipment worth $55.5bn (£41.5bn), according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research organisation.
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