Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin has lost the initiative in the ongoing war, attributing the shift to Ukraine's advancements in military technology and the dynamic evolution of battlefield strategies.
In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Zelenskyy discussed how Ukraine's defense industry has rapidly developed over the course of the conflict. "Since the beginning of the war, when Putin said that he will occupy us during two, three days, now we build a great mil-tech industry," Zelenskyy said. "We have 500 companies with very strong technologies."
He characterized the war as an "innovation race," where technology must constantly adapt to remain effective. "We understand that this war is changing each three, six months," Zelenskyy explained. "We have to change technologies. We have to be quicker than Putin because Putin has more people… and we have to save our people and use more technologies than [their] people."
Zelenskyy pointed to Ukraine's ability to conduct strikes deep within Russian territory, including attacks that affected power in Russian-occupied Crimea, as evidence of a momentum shift away from Moscow. He also cited significant Russian casualties, stating, "Putin is losing 30,000 soldiers per month." He added, "There's many losses, but he doesn't want to stop this war. So now initiative [is] not in the hands of Putin."
The Ukrainian president reiterated Ukraine's calls for a ceasefire and diplomatic negotiations, but stated that Putin has shown no interest in dialogue. Zelenskyy noted that they last spoke in 2020.
Honoring Lindsey Graham
The interview also touched upon the late U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham's consistent support for Ukraine. Zelenskyy described Graham as one of Ukraine's earliest and most dedicated supporters, noting that the senator visited Ukraine approximately 10 times during the war, including trips near the front lines. "A lot of things have been changed because of such people like Lindsey," Zelenskyy said. "We had such supporters of Ukraine from the very beginning, who really believed in Ukraine, that Putin can't occupy us, and he couldn't."
Zelenskyy also praised The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, legislation that passed the Senate with bipartisan support and is heading to the House, which aims to impose sanctions on entities supporting Russia's war efforts.
Earlier on Tuesday, Zelenskyy met with former President Donald Trump at the White House. According to Zelenskyy, the discussion included expanding defense cooperation, and Trump agreed to grant licenses for Ukraine to domestically produce American-designed Patriot missiles.