The Zhe-exit: Why the president's statements sparked mixed reactions.

During the debut interview of the head of state in 2025, which was recently aired during a telethon, journalists asked Zelensky to describe Trump and share his impressions of the elected American leader: "Trump can be decisive in this war. He can really stop Putin, or rather, help us stop Putin. He can do it. He is strong and unpredictable. I wish Trump's unpredictability would primarily affect Russia. I believe he genuinely wants to end the war."

According to the current guarantor of the Ukrainian Constitution, Mr. Trump "is capable of winning on his own," his victory in the November 2024 U.S. elections was convincing and raised no doubts, and "this is exactly the kind of victory over Russian aggression that we need." It is noteworthy that Zelensky added that so far he has not had "a single negative moment" in his communication with Trump. He stated that the Ukrainian and American teams are "in constant contact," and the main thing now is to "build these relationships." "I think Putin is afraid of him, which is why he is taking steps to ensure that some voices from the Kremlin reach the U.S. administration," emphasized Volodymyr Zelensky.

In response to a question about when the war might end, the current head of Bankova stated that it will not happen overnight. "But the hot phase of the war can indeed end quite quickly if Trump is strong in his position, and ideally, this position aligns with European colleagues," Zelensky added. Remember, Trump's inauguration will take place on January 20, and according to Zelensky, the elected president told him he expects his visit to the U.S. soon: "I think we will have a meeting after the inauguration, and we will start working, understanding the plan (for peace – ed.)."

According to Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump will have contacts with the Russian side - "they will study who is ready for what." This will be the first period after Trump's inauguration, "and from there we will build the next steps," the President of Ukraine explained. The result of this process may lead to the cessation of the hot phase of the war, said Zelensky. "This does not mean that everything will be completely over, but it is an important step towards restoring life and society," he stated. "We do not want to lose anything, but how it will be, I cannot say now, because much depends on our partners."

Incidentally, in an interview for the same telethon, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (GUR MO) Kyrylo Budanov predicted that 2025 would be better for Ukraine than the previous year. Answering the host's question about what our fellow citizens should expect in 2025, the chief intelligence officer noted: "A year ago, I was asked a similar question, and I honestly said that, unfortunately, 2024 would be very difficult. 2025 will definitely be better. There are objective factors for this, and I hope we will see many good events that will ultimately bring us what we are all waiting for."

According to General Budanov, who noted his 39th birthday last Saturday, Russia is capable of continuing the war, but if it "does not wake up by mid-2025," it will have to make "very difficult decisions" regarding its financial and economic systems. "Are they ready for this? Maybe they are. Do they want this? I can say with a hundred percent certainty that no. Therefore, they will do everything to prevent this," the head of the GUR concluded.

Meanwhile, a Moscow correspondent for the British television channel Sky News, Ivor Bennett, expressed confidence that the Russian-Ukrainian war will end in 2025. He specifically emphasized that combat operations might cease, and the conflict could be frozen when the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany is celebrated. "The goal will be a double celebration," Bennett notes.

The Financial Times also predicts the end of the war in 2025. However, the newspaper emphasizes that to achieve peace, the newly elected U.S. president Donald Trump will have to threaten Russia with tougher sanctions on one hand and strengthen American support for Kyiv on the other "to convince Moscow to seriously engage in negotiations." It is also noted that U.S. allies will persuade Trump not to remove Ukraine's NATO membership from the agenda.

However, let's return to Zelensky's interview, during which he, among other things, referred to the UAF operation in the Kursk region as "a very strong trump card in all negotiations": "Especially with countries that are very important to us. Especially with Global South countries. I never thought it would have such a significant impact on them. But it has greatly influenced them." As the president emphasized, these states believed that the Russian army was invincible, so they were particularly impressed by the fact that Ukraine took control of part of the Kursk region and continues to hold it, while the Russians are increasing their contingent there "and can do nothing."

According to Zelensky, before the UAF operation in the Kursk region, "even in Europe, the non-Ukrainian voice became loud, and all these talks began about how Ukraine is losing." "They said we should persuade Putin not to occupy the whole of Ukraine, and then the Kursk operation turned everything upside down," said Zelensky. It is worth noting that some military analysts still criticize Kyiv's decision to invade the Kursk region, as some of the most capable UAF units were sent there, which could have been needed in the hottest spots on the front in the Donetsk region.

In his interview, Zelensky also responded to the question of whether elections in Ukraine should indeed take place soon after the cessation of the hot phase of the war: "In 2025, if we succeed and can achieve the end of the hot phase of the war in a strong position for Ukraine, we will have a strong army, a strong package of weapons, guarantees, after which we can generally think about not having martial law in Ukraine, and only then... elections can take place." According to the president, the decision about whether he will run for a second term depends on how the war ends. "For me, this is not the focus of today. This is not the goal today. I do not know how this war will end. If I do more than I can – then I will look at it more positively," he said.

At the same time, Elena Zelenskaya, participating in the interview, noted that she would support her husband's decision, and whether this decision is popular or not in their family is a "second question." "It seems to me that the second time it is not as scary as the first. But, of course, I would not want to live in this emotional state all my life – it is an exhausting period, the most difficult. And of course, the scariest period was when the war began. From this perspective, I reason like this: if elections have started, it means that the war, in general, the hot phase has ended, and this is already a positive sign... And I will support any choice there," emphasized the country's first lady.

Previously, Elena Zelenskaya did not hide that she did not particularly approve of her husband's decision to run for president. However, during the 2019 presidential elections, Zelensky made a clear promise (which was recorded in his program) that he would run for only one term.

Nevertheless, the most resonant fragment was where the head of state hinted that his visits to wounded soldiers supposedly possess healing power and literally help those who could not walk before. "Today I received a photo of a guy, a soldier, from Superhumans (a center for prosthetics, rehabilitation, and reconstructive surgery – ed.). I believe it did not depend on me, but on the doctors, but it is a pleasant moment. The guy I took a photo with could not walk. He worked on this both in the U.S. and in Ukraine. And I received a message before the interview where he says, 'the president visited, and I started walking; let him come more often,'" said Volodymyr Zelensky, adding that the soldier himself allegedly wrote to him, clarifying in his message that this is "an inside joke." Meanwhile, such a quasi-religious narrative from Zelensky provoked quite a sharp reaction among ordinary Ukrainians: from outright mockery regarding the unsuccessful PR move of Zelensky's team to mocking caricatures.

"Why did Zelensky insert a segment about healing a soldier after his visit during the interview? If this is a calculated communicative trick, then it became a meme and went viral, and it doesn't matter what the subtext in the memes is; the main thing is that the narrative of the supposedly supernatural power of the state leader and the modeling of the soldiers' emotional attitude towards the first person enters the consciousness," notes political scientist Oleg Posternak. At the same time, in the expert's opinion, if this was an instantaneous emotional outburst from Zelensky, "then this story says a lot about the president's self-perception in the system of relationships 'I - others,' and here there could be quite obvious remarks."

By the way, right after the presidential interview within the framework of the telethon, a three-hour conversation between Zelensky and American podcaster Lex Fridman was published, during which the president stated that elections in Ukraine would only be possible after the war ends or after changes in legislation. "I believe that elections will take place immediately after the end