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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Kiev wants to end the war with Russia by “diplomatic means” next year, as both countries prepare for Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

February 2025 would mark the third anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, with Russian forces gaining ground against Kiev’s outgunned and outgunned soldiers in recent months.

The prospect of Trump returning to power in the United States next year has raised questions about the future of the conflict, as the Republican has been critical of US military aid to Kiev.

Zelensky spoke a day after saying the war will end “sooner” than it otherwise would have once Trump becomes president.

He also spoke a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first phone call with a major Western leader, speaking to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who initiated the call despite Kiev’s objections.

“For our part, we must do everything we can to ensure that this war ends next year. We must end this by diplomatic means,” Zelensky said in an interview with Ukrainian radio. “And this, I think, is very important.”

There have been no meaningful talks between Russia and Ukraine, but Trump’s re-election has thrown the future of the grueling conflict into uncertainty, with the Republican repeatedly promising to quickly reach a deal to end the war.

“We have to understand what the Russians want,” Zelensky said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he will only accept talks with Ukraine if Kiev surrenders Ukrainian territory that Moscow occupies.

The Kremlin said he repeated that demand in the phone call with Scholz on Friday.

Zelensky has rejected Putin’s conditions.

Ukraine was angry after Germany’s Scholz contacted Putin on Friday, calling the Russian leader after almost two years of silence.

Berlin said Scholz “condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and called on President Putin to withdraw his troops.”

It also said Scholz “urged Russia to be ready to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace.”

But Ukraine accused Scholz of an “attempt at appeasement” and said the call would achieve nothing other than minimizing Putin’s “isolation”.

Scholz said he had spoken to Zelensky before calling the Kremlin head and had also informed other Western allies of the call.

On Saturday, the G7 – which includes many of Kiev’s key backers – said Russia remains the only obstacle to a just peace in Ukraine, and pledged sanctions against Moscow.

“We will remain united by Ukraine’s side,” the Group of Seven industrialized countries said in a statement marking the 1,000 days of the invasion.

Moscow has made steady progress in eastern Ukraine since this summer, moving closer to key hubs such as Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

Zelensky said on Saturday that Russian forces suffered heavy losses and that the advance had “slowed” in some areas.

Ukraine was “at war with a state that does not value its people, that has a lot of equipment and that does not care how many people die,” he added.