Moscow’s troops continue to gain ground in Ukraine’s east, while Kyiv’s forces control a small chunk of Russian territory across the border
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that the current state of play on the battlefield had created an opportunity for steps to end Russia’s more than 2 1/2 -year-old invasion no later than next year.
Addressing the third Ukraine-South East Europe summit in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, the Ukrainian leader said Kyiv was counting on the support of its important allies including the United States.
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Zelensky did not spell out how and why he perceived such an opportunity. Russian forces now hold just under 20 per cent of Ukraine, in its east and south.
Moscow’s troops continue to steadily gain ground in Ukraine’s east while Kyiv’s troops control a small chunk of Russian territory across the border, two months after launching an incursion into the Kursk region.
Kyiv has been intensively lobbying allies to allow strikes with Western weapons on military targets deeper inside Russia.
Zelensky’s comments come amid great uncertainty for Kyiv ahead of the November 5 US election that could return Donald Trump to the White House. Trump has said he would seek a quick end to the war, which Kyiv’s supporters fear could entail crushing concessions being foisted on Ukraine.
Zelensky appealed to the political will of Kyiv’s allies to approve his “victory plan”, which he said envisages Ukraine’s invitation to Nato. He has pitched the plan as a way to put Ukraine on a strong footing for potential negotiations with Russia, though none are known to be currently planned.
“As I said, the plan is designed to strengthen Ukraine. There can be no scepticism from partners, in my opinion, if they are just not afraid of the Russian Federation. Because we want to get the first step – an invitation” to join Nato, he told reporters after the summit.
Zelensky also called on senior politicians from 12 southeast European nations at the summit to invest in Ukrainian weapons production, which Kyiv has ramped up while at war.
“This will help us now, but after this war it will guarantee the strength of your own arsenals,” he said.
Zelensky urged the summit’s participants to join efforts to rebuild Ukraine. “We are not just talking only about rebuilding what was destroyed by Russia in this war, but also about creating new energy, industrial and social opportunities that will make Europe stronger.”
The summit between Ukraine and southeastern European nations was the third of its kind, after one in August 2022 in Athens, Greece, and another in Tirana, Albania.
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