Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday he wanted to end the war with Russia in 2025 "through diplomatic means," hoping the new US administration, led by President-elect Donald Trump, would help speed things up, as Russian factories build new lethal weapons to attack Ukraine.

"For our part, we must do everything possible to ensure that this war ends next year. We must end it by diplomatic means. I think this is very important," Zelensky told Radio Ukraine.

He added that he expects the new US administration, led by Donald Trump, to help end the war - which is approaching its 1,000th day - quickly, without providing details.

"The war will certainly end faster with the policies of the team that will run the White House... This is their approach, their promise to their society," Zelensky said, adding, "The war will end, but we do not know exactly when."

He stressed that he had a "constructive interaction" with Donald Trump during their phone conversation after his victory in the US presidential elections, noting that Trump "heard the foundations on which Kiev relies," while he did not hear anything that contradicted Kiev's position.

Trump, who will take office on January 20, has said he would seek a quick deal between Kiev and Moscow to end the war, but has not set out any terms, including what would happen, for example, to Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces since 2022.

Zelensky demands that any peace deal include Russia’s withdrawal from all Ukrainian territory, something Russian President Vladimir Putin rejects. The Ukrainian president also fears that U.S. support for his country will weaken as its forces struggle on the front lines, or that a deal will be imposed on it that would cede territory to Russia.

Japanese move

Meanwhile, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya arrived in Kyiv on Saturday on an unannounced visit to discuss North Korea's deepening military alliance with Russia, including the deployment of thousands of troops to support Moscow's war in Ukraine.

After arriving in Ukraine by train from Poland, Iwaya will meet his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sebiha today, and talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky are likely later in the day, according to a Japanese foreign ministry official.

The ministry said Tokyo's "serious concern" over growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia was at the top of the agenda.

According to US, South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence assessments, up to 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia as part of a major defense treaty between the countries.

Japan, along with the United States and other members of the Group of Seven major industrial nations, has supported Ukraine while imposing economic sanctions on Russia since the war began in February 2022.

Ukrainian soldiers take part in training at a shooting range in the Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine (AFP - Archive)

Russian attacks

Iwaya's visit comes after the Ukrainian capital was attacked by Russian drones, damaging residential buildings and infrastructure in the Obolon district of Kyiv. No casualties were reported.

The head of the military administration in Kyiv, Serhiy Popko, said that Ukrainian air defenses neutralized up to 12 drones. The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia attacked Ukraine with 83 Shahed drones in the early hours of Saturday morning.

She added that 55 of these planes were shot down, while 30 others deviated from their course or were lost after electronic jamming.

For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had destroyed 35 Ukrainian drones, including 20 over the western Kursk region and 11 over the Bryansk region.

false goal

In a related development, an Associated Press report today said that a high-tech factory in central Russia has manufactured a new lethal force to attack Ukraine, consisting of a small number of highly destructive thermal drones surrounded by huge swarms of “foam traps.”

The agency quoted a source familiar with Russian production and a Ukrainian electronics expert as saying that the plan, which Russia has dubbed “Operation False Target,” aims to force Ukraine to spend scarce resources to save lives and maintain vital infrastructure, including the use of expensive air defense munitions.

"Radars, snipers and even electronics experts cannot spot the killer drones in the sky," they added.

Unarmed traps now make up more than half of the drones targeting Ukraine and up to 75% of new drones coming out of the factory in Russia’s Alabuga special economic zone, according to the source familiar with Russian production.

"The same factory produces a particularly lethal version of the Shahed drones armed with thermobaric warheads," he added, noting that "a small number of highly destructive drones are surrounded by huge swarms of cheap foam baits."