President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that “the sooner the war ends (…), the longer the Russian president and his entourage will live,” Kyiv Independent reports.

In an interview with The Economist, Zelenskyi said that only Russian dictator Vladimir Putin can “transfer the war from a military to a diplomatic channel” by ordering his troops to leave Ukraine.

“The sooner the war ends and if Russia follows the path of recognizing the tragic mistake that started it, the longer the Russian president and his entourage will live,” he said.

Zelensky said that he is against freezing the Russian-Ukrainian war. According to him, Ukraine should not stop until it vacates all its territories occupied by Russia, returning to the internationally recognized borders of 1991, because if this is not done, Putin will “return”.

Zelenskyy said that this was already the case when Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014 and then launched an all-out war against the country in 2022.

He also noted that Russia seized “a part of Ukrainian territory, and then freezes (the conflict) for a while so that the occupiers get stronger and prepare for a new campaign of occupation.”

Zelenskyi’s latest statement is in line with the head of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Valery Zaluzhny, who said Russia is now preparing 200,000 reservists and concentrating its forces for a new major offensive early next year, when it may try to retake Kyiv.