(Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could be decisive in the outcome of the 34-month-old war with Russia and help stop Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Russian forces are advancing in the east, slowly but surely, and they are shrinking Ukraine’s partial hold of the border region of Kursk

After more than 1,000 days of war, Ukraine is running short on manpower while the Kremlin has stepped up bombings of cities and infrastructure, launching missiles, drones and artillery rounds at civilian targets.

With soaring inflation and the ruble dropping to one of its lowest levels against the dollar since President Vladimir Putin launched his war in Ukraine, this year Russians will have to pay more for the dish, which is traditionally served alongside caviar and tangerines, before the New Year is toasted in.

Russian ruler Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, 26 December, answering a question about the prospects for ending the war in Ukraine in 2025, that he was "striving" to end it but was still going to achieve his "goals".

However, Zelenskyy said it won’t be possible to end the almost three years of war in one day, as Trump claimed during his election campaign he could do. “The ‘hot’ stage of the war can end quite quickly,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview that President-elect Trump is “capable of stopping” Russian President Vladimir Putin and that he will be a key factor in the outcome of the war in Eastern Europe,

Russia's UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, blasted the incoming US administration's unclear stance on the Ukraine conflict, calling it a series of "vague signals." He warned that Russia is seeking an end to the war,