Zelensky says 'no one knows' when war in Ukraine will end

KYIV, Ukraine

President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that there was no end in sight to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as fatigue builds among Kyiv's allies nearly two years into the war and the Kremlin voices growing confidence of victory.

Zelensky said he had turned down a request from the military — for now — to mobilize as many as 500,000 Ukrainians for the army, an unpopular proposal that could hit his worsening poll ratings among Ukrainians.

His meeting with local and foreign journalists wraps a difficult year in Ukraine, with Kyiv's forces under pressure on the front and allies wavering on military and financial backing.

"No one knows the answer," Zelensky told reporters in response to a question of whether the war with Russia could end next year.

"Even respected people, our commanders and our Western partners, who say that this is a war for many years, they do not know," he said.

The question of how long Western countries will provide essential support for Kyiv has grown increasingly urgent.

Zelensky last week embarked on a tour of Western countries to make the case for more military and political support as Russia's invasion grinds closer to its two-year-anniversary in February.

But he failed to convince the U.S. Congress to immediately approve $60 billion in support, while in Brussels, Hungarian leader Viktor Orban blocked and aid package of around 50 billion euros ($55 billion).

Zelensky said Tuesday that he wanted to organize talks with Orban to "find solutions" to their differences, and voiced confidence that Washington would follow through on aid.

"I am confident that the United States will not betray us," he said.

With elections looming in the United States next year, Zelensky acknowledged that the result of the ballot could have a "very strong impact" on the course of the war, saying the Republican favorite Donald Trump "will surely have a different policy" from Joe Biden.

Those setbacks on the diplomatic front come in the wake of a disappointing counteroffensive that Kyiv launched in June using Western-supplied tanks and weapons stockpiled over months.

Responding to growing weariness over the war, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said Tuesday that the world had become "jaded" by the Ukraine conflict, where war crimes continue to be committed "primarily by the forces of the Russian Federation."