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Trump’s Israel success gives Zelenskyy hope for Ukraine peace deal


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As President Donald Trump’s Israel-Hamas peace deal unfolds, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hopes a similar agreement could one day be possible for his own country.

With Trump’s help, he believes the possibility is real — and says it could even warrant a Nobel Peace Prize nomination next year if peace can be achieved.

“This is real success … it gives signals for us and hope that with such pressure, what President Trump used in Middle East to make peace, and I hope that he will use the same instruments, even more, to pressure Putin to stop his war in Ukraine.”

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives for the 80th session of the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23, 2025, in New York City. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Zelenskyy joined “The Sunday Briefing” exclusively this week to discuss the prospect of peace between Russia and Ukraine following this week’s Israel-Hamas peace deal. 

Ukraine has been at war with Russia for more than 1,300 days, since Putin’s invasion in February 2022. Since returning to office in January, Trump has pressured both nations to end the fighting.

But after continued reluctance from Putin, Trump’s patience has worn thin.

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Russian soldiers fire towards Ukrainian military

Russian soldiers fire a D-30 howitzer toward Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on July 9, 2025. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In late September, Trump found new leverage by hinting he might provide Kyiv with Tomahawk cruise missiles, vowing that Ukraine could reclaim its lost territory and urging other nations to curb Russian oil purchases.

Zelenskyy said he spoke with Trump by phone, writing on X Saturday that he congratulated the president for the “outstanding achievement” of brokering peace in the Middle East, adding that if war can be stopped in one region, “then surely other wars can be stopped as well — including the Russian war.”

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Soon after Trump was passed over for this year’s award, Zelenskyy told Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich that he would be “happy” to nominate Trump for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize if he can help broker peace in Ukraine.

“I think that we will be very happy to nominate President Trump next year [for] a Nobel Prize, if he will … pressure and stop Putin, if he will put Putin at the table of dialogue negotiations, if President Trump will stop the killings. And I think that a ceasefire, sometimes we understand that ceasefire is not really finishing the war but, between us, we understand the ceasefire is the biggest step to finishing the war …”

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“If he will do it … Of course, in this case, we will nominate him, and we will be proud to congratulate him.”