An hour with President Zelenskyy

KYODO NEWS
December 20, 2024

More than 1,000 days have passed since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Russia has occupied about 20 percent of Ukraine's territory, with their militaries engaging in fierce combat along front lines stretching for some 1,000 kilometers.

After Ukrainian forces launched a cross-border offensive into Russia's western region of Kursk in August, Moscow also made a new move by deploying North Korean troops to the area. Russian forces, meanwhile, are advancing faster in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. The United States, the largest supporter of Ukraine in the war, will have a new president in January as Donald Trump, who has called for a quick end to the conflict, returns to the White House for a nonconsecutive second term.

With the war at a crossroads, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sat down for an exclusive interview with Kyodo News on Dec. 1, discussing various aspects of the conflict for about an hour. He spoke candidly about the situation Ukraine is now facing, saying the conflict has entered a "complicated period."