The News
The Ukraine-Russia war must end on Kyiv’s terms, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized in a pair of speeches delivered at the United Nations this week in New York.
Russia must be “forced into peace,” Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council Tuesday, adding in his speech to the UN General Assembly that a truce brokered by countries without Ukraine’s involvement would only achieve ”a lull" in the fighting. The Ukrainian leader called out China and Russia specifically, saying “you will not boost your power at Ukraine’s expense.”
Zelenskyy is set to present a “victory plan” to end the war to US President Joe Biden Thursday.
SIGNALS
Doubts over an escalated plan for Ukrainian victory
On Monday Zelenskyy said there was “nothing impossible” in Ukraine’s “victory plan,” with sources familiar with the proposal calling it a “bridge to a second peace summit” that Kyiv wants to invite Moscow to by the end of the year, Euronews reported. However, “we are very very far from any kind of negotiations [with Moscow]” Cold War expert Michael Kimmage argued, highlighting Russia’s recent push into Ukraine’s Donbas region. Instead, Zelenskyy’s announcement of a final plan may be more focused on critics in the US who want to pull back on aid to Ukraine “by promoting an apparent blueprint for eventual peace,” the BBC wrote.
Zelenskyy walking a US political tightrope
Zelenskyy may be facing “his last best chance for substantial foreign assistance,” The New Yorker wrote. The president earlier told the outlet his battle plan was “designed, first and foremost, with Biden’s support in mind.” But the US may not want to create “political headwinds” for Kamala Harris in the weeks before the US presidential election by promising a substantial increase in aid. Meanwhile, a Trump win would likely spell significant trouble for Ukraine: Trump recently mocked Zelenskyy as “the greatest salesman in history... every time he comes into this country, he walks away with $60 billion.” Trump’s pro-Russian sentiment would be “extremely dangerous” for Ukraine, wrote a retired US colonel in Foreign Affairs, making Zelenskyy’s trip to the US a “crucial moment” in Ukraine’s fight.