Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday hailed the ‘extraordinary’ Gaza ceasefire as bringing hope that US president Donald Trump could broker an end to the Russian invasion of his country.
‘When peace is achieved for one part of the world, it brings more hope for peace in other regions,’ Zelensky said on social media.
He added: ‘If a ceasefire and peace have been achieved for the Middle East, the leadership and determination of global actors can certainly work for us too, in Ukraine.’
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, setting off the largest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Tens of thousands have been killed, millions forced from their homes and much of eastern and southern Ukraine decimated.
Trump had once vowed he could end the war in a matter of hours, but despite several rounds of talks and a summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin, there has been no significant progress towards a peace deal.
Russia has refused multiple calls for a ceasefire and outlined hardline demands, essentially calling for Kyiv to capitulate in exchange for peace.
The US leader has grown increasingly frustrated with Putin in recent weeks and recently said he could see Ukraine reclaiming every inch of territory seized by Russia.
Moscow’s army currently controls around a fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula which it captured and annexed in 2014.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz also urged Trump to carry the momentum from brokering the Israel-Hamas ceasefire into efforts on Ukraine.
‘We also hope that the American president will now use the influence he has exerted on the parties involved in the Middle East to work with us on the Russian government,’ Merz said in Egypt, where he was to attend a summit of world leaders including Trump.
Merz added that he will discuss the Russia-Ukraine war settlement with Trump at the summit.
Trump said in Sunday he may warn Putin that Ukraine could get Tomahawk cruise missiles if Moscow does not end its invasion.
Trump has been mulling potential supplies of the long-range missiles to Kyiv via European allies since his meeting with Putin in Alaska in August failed to produce a peace deal.
‘I might talk to him. I might say, ‘look, if this war is not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,’ Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One when asked if he would raise the subject with Putin himself.
The US leader said Zelensky had asked for Tomahawks when they were discussing a fresh supply of weapons for Kyiv in a call on Saturday.
‘Tomahawks are a new step of aggression,’ added Trump, who was traveling to Israel and Egypt to push for a long-term Gaza peace deal.
‘Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don’t think so.’
Putin has previously warned against supplying Kyiv with Tomahawks, saying it would be a major escalation and affect relations between Washington and Moscow.
Trump has repeatedly said that the Ukraine war, now in its fourth year, is the toughest of a number of conflicts that he claims to have solved since his return to power in January.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of pro-Western Ukraine in February 2022.
