Zelensky adviser: Conflict should end ‘no later than in May’

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that the conflict in Ukraine could end in early May when Russian forces run out of resources to continue fighting.

Ukrainian media published a video of Ukrainian adviser Oleksiy Arestovich suggesting the end of the war was dependent on how many resources Russia wanted to commit to the campaign, according to Reuters.

But the adviser predicted that early May would likely be the latest time for the Eastern European conflict to end.

“We are at a fork in the road now: there will either be a peace deal struck very quickly, within a week or two, with troop withdrawal and everything,” Arestovich said, according to Reuters. “Or there will be an attempt to scrape together some, say, Syrians for a round two and, when we grind them too, an agreement by mid-April or late April.”

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and has faced stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces heading into the fourth week of the campaign. Zelensky estimated last week that Russia has lost between 5,000 and 6,000 soldiers so far.

But Russian forces have made advances in the east, surrounded the besieged city of Mariupol and are now bombarding the capital of Kyiv.

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators broke for a technical pause on Monday and are set to resume discussions on Tuesday.

While Arestovich has predicted Russians could run out of steam, he said small-scale fighting between Russia and Ukraine could stretch out for a year, although Ukraine is insisting on the complete withdrawal of Russian forces, Reuters reported.