The West should recognize that Russia is currently winning the war against Ukraine and therefore begin negotiations, Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said on November 7, according to the official Russian news agency TASS .

Shoigu’s statement comes shortly after Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump won the US presidential election on November 5.

Trump’s victory also comes at a particularly precarious moment in the war, when Russian troops are rapidly advancing Donetsk Oblast. The president-elect has previously criticized military aid to Ukraine and expressed his intention to “exit” the war.

Former Defense Minister Shoigu accused the West of trying to use Ukraine to inflict a strategic defeat. Russiaadding that the plan had failed.

“The West faces a choice: continue financing (the war) and destroying the Ukrainian population or recognize current realities and begin negotiations,” Shoigu said.

Trump criticized President Volodymyr Zelensky during his election campaign.

He previously laid the blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Zelensky and US President Joe Biden without mentioning Russian President Vladimir Putin and referred to Zelensky as a “salesman” for securing what Trump considered too much military aid.

During the campaign, Trump claimed that if he returned to the White House, he would end Russia’s war in Ukraine within “24 hours.” He alluded to his message again in delivering his victory speechtelling his enthusiastic supporters: “I will stop wars.”

THE The Wall Street Journal reported that the plan could involve postponing Ukraine’s NATO membership for at least 20 years, freezing the war along the current front lines and establishing a demilitarized zone in the east.

What we know about Trump’s plans to end Russia’s war on Ukraine

Trump has repeatedly said he could end the war in Russia “in 24 hours.” What is his project?