Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is working on a unilateral roadmap to end the war with Russia this fall, relying on international pressure on Moscow to achieve peace on terms favorable to Kyiv. With no significant progress on the front and the risk of reduced military support from key allies, Zelenskiy is gradually revealing details of his “victory plan” to international partners, emphasizing that its success will depend on the support of allies, not on the will of Russia – EFE
In a recent interview, Zelenskyy emphasized that peace can be achieved if Western allies increase pressure on the Kremlin through additional military assistance to Ukraine. During his address to the nation, he said that he had presented some aspects of this plan to a delegation of US congressmen at an economic forum in Italy, where they discussed possible strategies to increase support for Ukraine and speed up the end of the conflict.
Zelenskyy is confident that a strong international coalition can be a decisive factor in accelerating the end of the war on terms favorable to Ukraine, although the specific details of the “victory plan” remain unknown.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy first mentioned the “victory plan” on August 27, when he said he intended to present this document to current US President Joe Biden, as well as to the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in the November elections.
Kursk as a key factor
As the Ukrainian leader explained at the time, he plans to submit this document in September. “The main goal of this plan is to make Russia stop the war,” he emphasized.
An important component of this plan is the success of the Ukrainian operation in the Russian region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces have controlled approximately 1,300 square kilometers since the start of the cross-border offensive.
“Probably, the purpose of the Kursk operation was to force Moscow to move troops from Donbas, to boost morale in Ukraine and possibly to encourage Putin to negotiate,” Ukrainian analyst Volodymyr Dubovyk said in an interview with EFE. However, in his opinion, so far it has not yielded results, as Putin seems to be preparing for a long war.
In addition to a possible exchange of occupied territories between Kyiv and Moscow, the plan also includes economic initiatives and proposals for Ukraine’s role in the international security system, according to Zelenskyy. The fourth part of the document contains specific measures to force Russia to stop its military aggression against Ukraine.
In parallel with presenting this plan to its partners, Kyiv plans to organize a second peace summit by the end of the year. Unlike the first meeting, which took place in June in Switzerland without Russian participation, this time the intention is to invite the Russian side.
From the words of Zelenskyy and other representatives of the Ukrainian government, it is clear that the main goal of this meeting is to unite the international community to pressure Russia to agree to peace on the terms proposed by Kyiv in this document, which is likely to become a “victory plan” for the summit.
The role of China and India
The effectiveness of pressure on Russia largely depends on the positions of countries close to Moscow, such as China and India. Kyiv is actively trying to involve these countries in resolving the conflict, but they are not yet ready to use their influence on Russia to force it to partially or completely withdraw from Ukraine, as Zelenskyy demands.
Zelenskyy’s efforts to find a way out of the protracted conflict coincide with a trend in Ukrainian society: the number of people ready to negotiate with Russia is growing.
Sociologist Andrew Chernosov notes two main phenomena among Ukrainians. First, the number of those who want to end their personal suffering through dialogue is increasing. Secondly, some Ukrainians consider the cost of Russia’s aggression to be too high, and for them any compromise would be perceived as a betrayal.
“They would feel that all the losses-homes, families, lives-were in vain,” Chernosov explains of this segment of the population.
