Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in the United States to present a “victory plan” to his closest ally this week, in an urgent effort to influence White House policy on the Ukraine-Russia war regardless of who wins the US election in November.
The Ukrainian leader said he wants to present the program to US President Joe Biden and the two potential successors, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, during the trip, which will see Zelenskyy address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
Zelenskyy said that if the plan is supported by Western countries, it will have a wider impact on Moscow, including the logic that can help to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war by talking.
“The victory plan looks for quick and strong actions by our strategic partners – from now until the end of December,” Zelenskyy told reporters on Friday.
He added that the program would serve as a “bridge” to a second Ukrainian-led peace conference that Kyiv wants to host and invite Russia later this year.
There is no other way to peace, said Zelenskyy, “no escalation of war or any other deception that could postpone Russian aggression to another stage.”
However, the two sides remain distant.
Zelenskyy wants Ukraine to be part of NATO and the European Union and for Russia to be expelled from all parts of Ukraine, although he says the latter goal can be achieved through talks. Putin says peace talks can only begin if Kyiv leaves the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine to Russia and drops its NATO membership plan.
Zelenskyy’s journey comes to a dangerous place in Ukraine. Trump’s victory in the November 5 presidential election may result in a reset of Washington’s policy on Ukraine, which relies heavily on US military and financial support.
During a televised debate, Trump refused to say that he wanted Ukraine to defeat Russia and said he would try to end the war before taking office if he won. Harris accused Trump of seeking an immediate and unconditional capture of Kyiv.
The US is eager to discuss the plan
As the elections are approaching, Kyiv has shown strength, rapidly consuming the land in the most dangerous area of ​​August 6 in the Kursk region of Russia, presenting new weapons including “drone missile” and ballistic weapon and starting large-scale drone strikes.
One attack caused a huge explosion at a weapons dump in the Tver region of Russia last Wednesday.
Russia has increased its drone and missile attacks, acquired Iranian ballistic missiles, according to the West, ordered an increase in the size of its army, moved to change its nuclear doctrine and expanded its eastern offensive.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden is willing to discuss “Zelenskyy’s overall strategy for success in this war” against Russia.
Zelenskyy said that his plan contains small points and that “all these points depend on Biden’s decision, not on Putin’s.”
On Friday, the leader said the steps involved in establishing Ukraine’s territory are “security building,” battlefield decisions including the Kursk operation, strengthening Ukraine’s arsenal and supporting the economy.
‘Important time’
Oleksandr Kovalenko, a Ukrainian military analyst, said Zelenskyy may press for a long-term guarantee of aid through 2025 and seek some kind of declaration of continued post-Biden support.
“This is going to be a very important time. Maybe in some ways, in a political and military sense, it will be a very important time,” he said.
Zelenskyy is also likely to call on Biden to authorize long-range strikes on Russia, a move Moscow has said would prompt NATO members to go straight to war and demand a response.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the West against supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles, saying NATO risks ‘war’ if they cross the red line. Andrew Rasiulis, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, joins Canada Tonight to break down Putin’s warning.
Ukraine wants to strike military forces up to 300 kilometers inside Russia, such as airfields that host helicopters and warplanes used to launch cluster bombs. Washington has said it does not see the easing of those restrictions as a game changer on the battlefield.
Russia, which occupies 18 percent of Ukraine’s territory, has been on the offensive since last October and in August made the most rapid advance in the last month.
Ukraine’s hold on Russia’s Kursk region may serve as a bargaining chip or as an insurance policy against any external pressure to stop the war along current lines. But Kyiv will have to hold this place in the middle of a tough challenge for the staff against a much bigger opponent.
Meanwhile, Russia has been advancing on the Pokrovsk transport hub. Its capture could wreak havoc on the Ukrainian system and open up new lines of attack.
Kovalenko said that it is possible that Russia wants to capture Pokrovsk by the end of the year.
“That will allow them … to intensify the pressure on the sides of the information to spark the thoughts of peace talks, on their terms,” ​​he said.
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