Almost everyone assumes that the Russian invasion of Ukraine will enter a decisive phase this year and the discourses are changing. Thus, the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, is already open to doing territorial transfers in exchange for the rest of the country joins NATO and has security guarantees by the West, all this at a time when Vladimir Putin is escalating the war, taking over more territories and causing more fatalities in new attacks. The latest advance, however, has occurred in Kurajovo, a town in the Donetsk area.
Precisely Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea They are the territories that Moscow currently controls – at least mostly – and which Ukraine could renounce if in exchange it forms part of the Atlantic Alliance. That membership, however, is still quite far away. “NATO can operate in the part that is controlled by Ukraine. Can we agree on this? I’m sure it is. Yes. Not a big hit for us“But if there is a diplomatic way to end the war, that is the first thing,” Zelensky said in an interview with Lex Fridman.
This turn by Zelensky comes a few weeks after demanding more support from both the EU and the United States. kyiv assumes that European security guarantees “are not enough”, so it absolutely needs Washington’s support to be maintained in the Trump 2.0 era. Contacts with the White House are constant and Zelensky maintains confidence. In fact, he assures that there will already be steps in that direction although he has not given more details. “It depends mainly on the will of the United States. The EU would give us one part and the United States the other. “There needs to be unity for this package,” he added about the delivery of more weapons, especially long-range missiles, which is one of Ukraine’s great demands.
Despite these changes, Volodimir Zelensky insists that the conditions for a ceasefire do not exist and repeats that His idea is “the victory plan” that he already presented to his partners months ago. and which consists of a total of five points that, yes, European governments do not see as entirely viable (at least in full).
The first point is to keep the alliance with NATO strong, which includes a formal invitation for the country to be part of the organization. The second has to do with military support “to pressure Russia” on the ground.while the third, says the Ukrainian president, consists directly of “placing a package of deterrence measures on Ukrainian territory to force Russia to participate in real peace negotiations or allow the destruction of its military objectives.” The fourth and fifth points are the “protection” of Ukraine’s resources, which Moscow “wants to take over” and, after the war, “the reconstruction” of the country, for which economic aid will be key.
Should we therefore talk about peace in Ukraine? For the European Union it is early: for now the key, they say, is to continue helping kyiv. And this was made clear by the allies at the last European Council summit. The Ukrainian president assumes that it is “very difficult” to sustain support for kyiv if the United States under Trump drops out of the formula. “We must once again count on unity between the United States and Europe. “It is very difficult to support Ukraine without American help and that is what we will discuss with President Trump when he is in the White House,” he said, without wanting to go too far into the rumors that speak of a possibility of peace in 2025. In fact, The High Representative, Kaja Kallas, asks to take the example of Syria: “Russia is not invincible,” she stated.
“We must not underestimate our own power,” said the head of European diplomacy, who sees “a bad deal” for Ukraine to enter into rapid future negotiations. The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, also spoke along these lines. who pointed out that support for kyiv will be maintained “whatever the cost” in order to be able to talk about “peace in the future.” But not in the present; It is early for that, the majority of heads of State and Government reiterated. “Russia is in offensive mode,” so the situation will lead to a peace that is “unjust and unsustainable,” said Lithuanian leader Gitanas Nauseda. The Baltics, in this context, are the ones that most insist on increasing military and economic supplies for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Putin’s troops continue to advance and have taken control of Kurajovo, in Donetsk, in the last few hours, where the Kremlin is stronger than in other areas of Ukraine. “The establishment of control over this important logistics center has significantly complicated the logistical and technical support of the group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the direction of Donetsk city, depriving the kyiv regime of the opportunity to fire with artillery systems,” the Russian Defense Ministry concluded.
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