Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday (Jan 2) that US 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.

Zelenskiy, facing advances by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, said in an interview with Ukrainian television that Trump had told him he would be one of the first to visit Washington after the presidential inauguration this month.

Zelenskiy also said a priority was to stabilise the front line early in the new year. Putin, he said, feared negotiations as they would be tantamount to a defeat for Russia.

"Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing," Zelenskiy said in a televised interview.

"His qualities are indeed there," Zelenskiy said of Trump. "He can be decisive in this war. He is capable of stopping Putin or, to put it more fairly, help us stop Putin. He is able to do this."

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