V. Zelensky said this in an interview with “CBS News,” which was published on Sunday.
The president was asked to comment on the statement by Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, commander of the Third Army Corps, that Ukraine has 6–9 months to seize the initiative on the battlefield from Russia and strengthen its position for peace negotiations.
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V. Zelensky replied: “Yes, that is true.”
According to him, since December 2025 Russia began to lose the initiative on the battlefield, and he shared this information with US partners.
“In January, I told them (partners) that, in my opinion, we have a window for negotiations, because every month they (the Russians) lose more people and therefore lose the initiative on the battlefield,” said the Ukrainian leader.
“So now we have this time frame until winter. Therefore, I think that (…) before winter we have to find a way, a diplomatic way, to sit down and talk. But it depends on the pressure on (Vladimir) Putin, the pressure in his society, and I think it is growing, the pressure of sanctions – not to remove them, but to introduce new ones. That is a good, diplomatic path,” he added.
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