Russian UN envoy to ‘Post’: We’re optimistic about ending war

After more than a thousand days of war, Trump is pressuring Ukraine and Russia to reach a peace agreement.

By AMICHAI STEIN FEBRUARY 25, 2025 22:46

First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nation Dmitry Polyanskiy speaks during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council at the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, US September 23, 2021. (photo credit: JOHN MINCHILLO/REUTERS)

The change of international rhetoric over the hostilities in Ukraine heralds a positive sign for ending the conflict, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

“The rhetoric has changed for sure. There are a lot of very promising signals,” Dmitry Polyanskiy said. “A new page that has opened in the US-Russia relations.”

Monday marked three years since Russia invaded Ukraine, and with the start of his second US presidential term, Donald Trump has shaken the foundations of the conflict, declaring his intention to facilitate an end to the fighting.

Polyanskiy said it appeared that the Trump administration is ready to engage.

“This is important because only through diplomacy can you achieve something,” he said. “The US has started to speak to us and has started to face the problems that are there, so we’ll see how things will develop.”

Vote results are displayed during the Eleventh Emergency Special Session draft resolution meeting in the United Nations General Assembly on the 3rd anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., February 24, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/SHANNON STAPLETON)

Tens of thousands killed

Tens of thousands have been killed in the war and many more have been wounded, along with the huge amount of destruction throughout Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated often that his country is fighting for its life, and Russia does not appear to want to stop fighting any time soon.

The West has so far failed to isolate Russia and stop its war effort. The BRICS economic bloc led by Russia and China has doubled the number of its members to 10 in the last year manifesting the West’s failure to impose crippling sanctions and isolation on Russia.

“BRICS is about cooperation and a reaction to the hostile policies of the West,” Polyanskiy said.

And three years after those massive sanctions, Russia is still in the game.

“It’s the Russian character, that’s the secret,” he said. “When we see that things are unfair about us, and when we understand that people are trying to impose on us something ... then the Russian character [comes out in] full.”

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Polyanskiy said the Russian people and BRICS alike have been known to unite when they are facing injustices or external pressures.

“They are our true friends. And they have never stopped being friends.”

Polyanskiy said he believes a deal is possible, but not with the current environment of Ukrainian rhetoric.

“When people sit and talk, an agreement is always reachable,” he said. “But technically do you think [it’s possible] when you’re hearing Ukrainian statements” that disparage heads of state?

After more than a thousand days of war, Trump is pressuring Ukraine and Russia to reach a peace agreement. Polyanskiy said he wants to see relations between the two countries revert to what they were in the past.

“We want Ukraine to become a friendly neighbor, as it always was,” he said. “We want to see a normal democratic country where people can have the right to free elections.”

Polyanskiy made it clear that Russia will not leave the areas it has occupied in Ukraine.

“These territories have become part of the territory of Russia after there was the referendum at the end of 2022,” he said. “The population of these regions voted to become part of Russia, and they are now part of Russia, according to our constitution. So I don’t think there can be any compromise on this.”

Trump might also change the current status of Russia-Israel relations, with Polyanskiy saying Moscow is ready to improve relations with Jerusalem.

“We are not interested in causing problems to Israel,” he said. “We are interested in Israel and Palestine living together with two separate states cooperating with each other. So our image of the Middle East is that the countries would be cooperating with each other.”