Ukraine to win war this year, Ambassador to UK believes

Prystaiko spoke in an interview with Newsweek, seen by Ukrinform.

"I don't believe that it will drag on longer than a year," the Ukrainian ambassador said.

According to the envoy, if Ukraine now stops at any peace talks with the Kremlin, then "the Russians will try to keep their land grabs, whatever they've managed to achieve up until now.”

“And most of these areas are quite crucial. For example, this land bridge to Crimea,” Prystaiko stressed.

He emphasized that Kyiv should clearly declare to foreign partners its commitment to the liberation of the entire Ukrainian territory, including Crimea. "We have to be extremely strong and focused on bringing over this message, that we are not trading our lands," he said.

In his opinion, the West "now has a unique chance". "There are not many nations in the world who would allow themselves to sacrifice so many lives, territories and decades of development for the purpose of defeating the archenemy," he said.

In addition, in the interview, Prystaiko recalled that Ukraine had proposed a peace formula, which "is not tied to a time frame," adding that it is possible to work with individual parts of this plan. He expressed hope that leaders will see the place of their nations in this plan.

"But I still hope that somebody will have enough courage to work with the tough security [question].... Somebody will have to help us actually win this war," Prystaiko added.

The ambassador also emphasized that Ukraine's long-term need for security guarantees is "very important."Our conversation with the rest of the world—at least the Western world—should be very easy. Ukraine wins, becomes a member of the European Union and NATO. And that's it," Prystaiko said.

As reported by Ukrinform, earlier the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the year 2023 will bring Ukraine “joy and victory.”