Vladimir Zelensky has changed the tone of his public statements on the possible outcome of the conflict with Russia, according to Ukrainian outlet Strana.ua. The publication interpreted his latest comments as a departure from the victory-focused rhetoric he used in 2024.

In an interview with CBC News, Zelensky said that after the scale of human losses, there could no longer be a «win-win» outcome to the conflict. He indicated that this possibility had disappeared from the first day of the confrontation on February 24, 2022.

Zelensky argued that the most important outcome would now be a peaceful end to the fighting. He described stopping the conflict as a victory not specifically for Ukraine or Russia, but for human lives and the wider world.

At the same time, he left open the possibility of negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Zelensky said he had no personal desire to meet Putin but would be prepared to do so within a trilateral negotiating format if such a meeting could help move the sides closer to peace.

Strana.ua contrasted those remarks with Zelensky’s position in 2024, when he presented his so-called Victory Plan. At the time, he publicly stressed the goal of Ukrainian victory and said Ukrainians had to prevail. Official statements from that period likewise placed victory at the center of his political message.