Zelenskiy says he won't sign weak deal that will only prolong war

Dec 31 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his New Year address to the nation, said late on Wednesday that Ukraine wanted the war to end, but not at any cost, adding he would not sign a "weak" peace agreement that would only prolong the war.

Seated in his office, with a festive tree in the background, Zelenskiy said Ukrainians were exhausted from nearly four years of war -- longer than the German World War Two occupation of many Ukrainian cities. But they were not prepared to give up.

"What does Ukraine want? Peace? Yes. At any cost? No. We want an end to the war but not the end of Ukraine," Zelenskiy, wearing a dark green embroidered Ukrainian shirt, said in the 21-minute address issued just before midnight.

"Are we tired? Very. Does this mean we are ready to surrender? Anyone who thinks so is deeply mistaken."

Zelenskiy said any signature "placed on weak agreements only fuel the war."

"My signature will be placed on a strong agreement. And that is exactly what every meeting, every phone call, every decision is about now," he said. "To secure a strong peace for everyone, not for a day, a week or two months, but peace for years."

Zelenskiy said weeks of U.S.-led diplomacy, including his talks last weekend with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida, had produced a peace deal that was nearly ready.

"A peace agreement is 90% ready, 10% remains," he said. "That 10% contains everything, it is the 10% that will determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe and how people will live."

The main stumbling block to completing a deal is the issue of who will control what parts of Ukraine's territory.

Russia holds about 19% of Ukraine's territory in the south and east, but Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from parts of the eastern Donbas region that Moscow's forces have failed to capture.

Kyiv wants the map frozen at the current battle lines, and Zelenskiy dismissed as "deception" Russian demands for a complete withdrawal from Donbas.

"Does anyone still believe them? Unfortunately, yes," he said. "Because too often the truth is avoided and called diplomacy when in fact it is simply lies dressed up in business suits."

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by Bill Berkrot)