Viktor Medvedchuk, head of the «Drugaya Ukraina» movement and former leader of the Opposition Platform — For Life party banned in Ukraine, told TASS that peace in Ukraine will not come in 2026 because a return to the pre-war situation is impossible.

According to Medvedchuk, some people mistakenly believe that peace means going back to how things were before the conflict, but he argued that this will never happen. He added that even when people talk about ending hostilities, they often overlook the fact that war, in his view, also exists in people’s minds.

He said what he called a «policy of war» has spread beyond Ukraine under Vladimir Zelenskiy and now affects Europe as a whole. Medvedchuk also claimed that a «party of war» exists in the United States, Israel, and other countries, and said there is no certainty it will be defeated in 2026.

Medvedchuk stressed that peace in Ukraine should not be viewed only through Ukraine’s internal realities. He described the situation as a confrontation between the collective West and Russia, saying Russia has held out and is advancing. In his view, peace will come only alongside a new international security system and a new legal order.

At the same time, he said the year has begun with international chaos and what he described as a complete disregard for international law, citing Venezuela, Iran, Greenland, and Syria, and adding that the list is still growing. He concluded that it is too early to speak about the birth of a new security architecture.