"Three Years of War." Ukra, will gunfire stop in the new year?Attention on Trump Mediation

[Anchor]
February 22nd marks three years since the war between Ukraine and Russia began.

The two sides have been fighting fiercely over the terms of the end of the war, and the role of U.S. President-elect Trump, who will take office soon, is drawing attention.

Correspondent Jo Su-hyun of London reports.

[Reporter]
The war in Ukraine, which had been a war of attrition in the first half of last year, has intensified sharply over the past few months.

Ukraine hit mainland Russia with Western missiles, and Russia sent North Korean troops to the front lines, following airstrikes and nuclear threats from new hypersonic missiles.

In Kursk, a battleground where the North Korean military joined, some analysts said the situation is changing recently.

With Ukraine at a disadvantage as it lost half of its occupation, Russia could launch an intensive offensive this month to retake Kursk.

With neither side stepping down, the launch of the second government of U.S. President-elect Trump, who has vowed to end the war as soon as possible, is expected to be a major variable.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President-elect (last month, 16th): I will talk to President Putin, I will talk to President Zelensky and the Ukrainian side. We need to stop the war. This is carnage.

Some observe that a ceasefire could be reached soon as both sides have exhausted their military capabilities, but negotiation conditions may not be created.

Ukraine says NATO membership is essential for its security guarantee, and opposition from major NATO members such as the United States and Germany remains.

[Volodymyr Zelensky / Ukrainian President: (Nato membership) is not a matter of consultation with European leaders alone. The real security guarantee for us is NATO membership.

Putin, on the other hand, has put forward recognition of Russian-occupied territories and Ukraine's abandonment of NATO membership as conditions for a ceasefire.

[Vladimir Putin / Russian President: The other side has refused to negotiate. We are always ready.

Trump's side has proposed to Russia to deploy Western peacekeepers while delaying Ukraine's NATO membership by 20 years, which Moscow has rejected.

There is a possibility that the situation will change rapidly depending on Trump's active mediation, but both Russia and Ukraine have not budged on the terms of the end of the war, so it does not seem easy to expect peace early.

I'm Jo Suhyun of YTN in London.