Four Years on, Zelenskyy Believes Ukraine isn’t Losing the War vs Russia

Despite President Donald Trump’s outspoken belief that Ukraine will have a tough time defeating Russia if not directly losing to the Evil Empire so negotiations and concessions are in order, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have in recent weeks scored major victories against Russian invaders.

The Oval Office was the site of the first explosive exchange between Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  During a tense February 28, 2025, meeting, Trump told Zelenskyy, “You don't have the cards right now,” arguing that Ukraine lacked the leverage to win its war against Russia without US support.

Trump maintains his bully attitude toward Ukraine, demanding, “Ukraine better come to the table fast. That’s all I’m telling you.”

Zelenskyy concurs with the observation that US funds and materiel are needed to defeat Russian aggressors. More than that, Ukrainian soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines have been holding their own and even pushing back the enemy.

As of early 2026, Donald Trump’s public position on whether Ukraine can win against Russia has shifted, moving from initial doubt and pressure for territorial concessions to later stating that, with Western support, Ukraine could win back its territory. He has frequently emphasized Russia’s superior size and strength, suggesting that, for a time, he viewed a Ukrainian victory as unlikely. Despite the shift, reports in February 2026 indicated he is still pressuring Ukraine to come to the table for a ceasefire, with some reports suggesting he was insisting on Ukrainian territorial concessions to end the war quickly. 

Trump has put pressure on Ukraine to cede territory to Russia, specifically the Donbas, as key to unlocking an end to the war.

But Ukraine has rejected ceding territory that Moscow has failed to conquer through military force and pushed back on Trump’s belief that handing land to Putin would satisfy his appetite for destroying Ukraine.

Trump’s remarks follow a known pattern where the he has used his bully pulpit to put pressure on Ukraine while holding back criticisms against Russia. While Trump has said that he believes Putin wants to make a deal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Munich Security that it’s not clear if Russia is serious about ending the war.

Alongside the trilateral talks to end the war, Ukraine is negotiating with the U.S. on a deal for security guarantees to deter Russia from using any pause in the fighting to reconstitute its military and launch another invasion against Ukraine. The end of this war is not Ukraine’s goal. The conclusion must be a just one that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity while not giving the perpetrator a square millimeter.

Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine is not losing the war against Russia, according to an interview published by Agence France-Presse (AFP). Speaking in Kyiv, Zelenskyy emphasized that while the outcome remains uncertain, Ukraine is firmly holding its ground.
Zelenskyy said, “You can’t say that we’re losing the war. Honestly, we’re definitely not losing it. The question is whether we will win.” His remarks come as the war today begins fifth year of intense fighting.
Zelenskyy’s statement reflects Kyiv’s official position that Ukrainian forces have stabilized key sectors of the battlefield despite sustained Russian offensives. While Ukraine has faced manpower and ammunition challenges, Western military assistance and defensive operations have allowed its forces to prevent major strategic breakthroughs by Russian troops.
Zelenskyy, who believes Putin has already started World War Three, framed the current phase of the war as difficult but not decisive in Russia’s favor. Independent verification of specific territorial claims was not included in the interview report. The broader battlefield situation remains fluid, with ongoing combat in eastern and southern regions.
This statement signals Ukraine’s continued determination to resist Russian advances and reinforces Kyiv’s messaging to international partners regarding sustained military and financial support. Politically, Zelenskyy will not concede anything to Russia for the sake of a weak, insincere peace that Moscow will break and return to its imperial mission of subjugating Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States said her country is ready to make a peace deal, pushing back on President Trump’s remarks this week suggesting Kyiv was to blame for stalled negotiations with Russia. 

“It has never been Ukraine who has been an impediment to the arrangement and the deal,” Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s envoy to the U.S., told The Hill on Tuesday.

She further called for Washington and Europe to follow through on large-scale sanctions packages to increase the pressure on Russian führer Vladimir Putin to drop his maximalist demands and end the war. 

“This is the moment when Russia should understand that every day of procrastination in settling the peace deal will cost the price, and this price will be increasing,” she said.

Ukraine’s wish list includes a bipartisan bill imposing tariffs on countries that purchase Russian oil. The bill is sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). Blumenthal, who traveling in Kyiv, told reporters that Trump is blocking the bill from going to the floor.

Thune has also said the House should take up the bill before the Senate, because it deals with federal revenue. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA.) office declined to comment on the status of the bill.

Zelenskyy told AFP on last week that Ukraine is not losing its war against Russia, has taken hundreds of square kilometers in a new counteroffensive, and that European troops should deploy right on the front line after any ceasefire.

Ukraine’s leader was speaking to AFP in an exclusive interview ahead of the four-year anniversary of the Russian invasion, with the outcome of the war – or the shape of any deal to end the fighting – still hanging in the balance.

His assessment of the bloody war comes as Trump is pushing Kyiv to agree a deal with Moscow, and during one of the most difficult winters for Ukraine's exhausted population and stretched military.

“You can’t say that we’re losing the war. Honestly, we’re definitely not losing it, definitely. The question is whether we will win,” Zelenskyy said.

During the latest U.S.-mediated negotiations in Geneva on February 17–18, Kyiv and Moscow discussed a joint Russian-Ukrainian civilian administration to run a demilitarized zone in the Donbas. But Ukrainian officials say the proposal is unrealistic and unacceptable, and the recent round of talks again ended in a stalemate. The plan follows the failure of other stillborn ideas discussed during talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S.

The proposal envisions withdrawing both Russian and Ukrainian troops from part of the Donbas in the country's east and establishing a civilian authority to manage the area. It would be potentially staffed by both Ukrainian and Russian representatives.

The Kyiv Independent has learned from a person familiar with the discussions that U.S. negotiators introduced the idea during recent talks as part of efforts to resolve the territorial dispute. The status of the Donbas remains the most contentious issue between Kyiv and Moscow. “Both the Americans and the Russians say that if you want the war to end tomorrow, get out of Donbas,” Zelenskyy said about the eastern region that Russia has claimed as its own.

Ukraine Defense Forces last week what they are capable of militarily. They used attack drones to strike a Russian missile factory in the Udmurt Republic –  some 1,300 miles from Kyiv – that builds the hypersonic Iskander-M, pictured, and the Oreshnik missile systems. Ukrainian forces used attack drones to strike the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant in Russia's Udmurt Republic, which produces the advanced missile systems, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

The factory builds the hypersonic Iskander and Oreshnik missile systems. Ukraine’s general staff confirmed the strike in a statement released on Saturday.

“On the night of February 21, units of the Missile Forces and Artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a strike with FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles. A defense industry enterprise – the Votkinsk Plant in the city of Votkinsk – was hit,” the statement said.

“A fire was recorded on the premises of the facility,” it added. “The results are being clarified.”

The Udmart Republic is located about 770 miles east of Moscow and about 1,300 miles northeast of Kyiv.

The Iskander missile is a mobile system that is carried and launched from atop a large military transport and is capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads with a range of up to 310 miles for some variants. The missile travels at hypersonic speeds of up to Mach 7.

Ukraine’s Armed Forces also struck Russian ships, planes, and artillery units in Russian-occupied Crimea and the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine’s Armed Forces General Staff announced on February. 21.
In Crimea, close to Sevastopol, Ukrainian forces hit two Russian border patrol ships of Project 22460 Hunter, part of the Rubin class of Russian Coast Guard vessels designed to combat surface and airborne threats.
Ukraine previously targeted the same class of ship in December with sea drones, although the General Staff did not confirm if drones were used in the latest attack.
Further north on the peninsula, Ukraine hit two Be-12 Chayka aircraft stationed at the Yevpatoria Aviation Repair Plant. Ukraine first hit Be-12 aircrafts in September 2025, also in occupied Crimea.
The Soviet-designed Be-12 Chayka is an anti-submarine amphibious aircraft equipped with high-value systems used for detecting and engaging submarines. They have been used in combat over the Black Sea.
The final extent of the damage on the Crimean Peninsula is still being assessed, the General Staff said. “The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to systematically reduce the aggressor's combat potential, depriving it of the ability to conduct offensive operations,” they added.

Without Washington’s wholehearted, complete support for Ukraine, without vacillating back and forth about Russia, this war that Russia began in 2022 will continue for years to come. As a few terrorist attacks in recent days have demonstrated, the air, sea and land war can soon degenerate into Russian inspired mob violence. As I wrote on June 20, 2018, “Indeed, Russia could freeze the war and turn the country into a target range with daily drive-by shootings and bombings.”