According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, Western officials are urging Ukraine to set more realistic goals for the next year while publicly supporting their plan to retake all of their territories. This comes as signs of growing fatigue among voters at home have made it difficult to sell the idea of a full victory in the ongoing conflict.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy are currently in Kyiv to discuss continued support for Ukraine and how to ensure its long-term success in terms of military, economic, and democratic stability. However, there are concerns about the stability of support from the U.S. as the presidential election approaches. Some fear that if Republican candidate Donald Trump wins, he may pressure Ukraine to cede territory in order to quickly resolve the conflict.
As discussions about a negotiated settlement become more common, senior European officials have stated that a full victory for Ukraine would require hundreds of billions of dollars in aid from the West, which they are not prepared to provide. President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to visit the U.S. later this month to present a victory plan to President Joe Biden and discuss it with both presidential candidates.
While the details of the plan have not been revealed, Zelensky has mentioned one key point being Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk Oblast as a form of pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, despite this operation allegedly seizing some territory, Russia continues to maintain its pressure in Ukraine’s east and recent reports suggest a new counterattack in Kursk Oblast.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose country is the leading European donor to Ukraine, has called for a quicker resolution to the conflict and believes that both he and Zelensky agree on the need to include Russia in future peace negotiations. However, despite Putin claiming to be open to peace talks, Western officials believe he is not acting in good faith and still believes in a military victory in Ukraine.
Moscow has stated that Ukraine must give up on occupied territory and cede additional ground as conditions for talks, while Kyiv’s 10-point peace formula includes a complete Russian withdrawal from the country. Despite Kyiv’s efforts to invite Russia to an upcoming peace summit, Moscow has shown no interest in accepting the invitation.
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