THE’Ukraine is going through one of its most difficult moments just days shy of the third anniversary of the invasion of Russia. A situation so delicate that it pushes the president Volodymyr Zelensky to call for steps forward from a diplomatic point of view. Always confident and at times bold, Kiev’s number one was forced to admit that his country currently does not have sufficient strength to regain the Donbass and the Crimea with military means. For this reason it relies on diplomacy, as perhaps never before.
In an interview with Le Parisien, reported by Rbc Ukraina, Zelensky did not mince words: “In fact these territories are now controlled by the Russians. We don’t have the strength to win them back. We can only count on the diplomatic pressure of the international community to force Putin to sit at the negotiating table.” Kiev’s number one also underlined that no world leader has the right to negotiate with Vladimir Putin without Ukraine: “We have never delegated this mandate to anyone. We are victims. It would be unfair if everyone started saying how the country should live. The French in France, the Italians in Italy or the Americans in the United States know what they want for themselves. The Ukrainians do the same.”
The question of negotiations came back into fashion after the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections. The tycoon has always reiterated that he wants to reach a peace agreement quickly, opening up to dialogue with Moscow. Furthermore, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that there is a possibility that peace talks between the parties will begin as early as this winter. Regarding the negotiations, Ukraine’s position will be crucial: “I don’t think we are in a weak position, but we are not in a strong position either. Are we in NATO? We don’t know. Will we be part of the European Union? Yes, in the future, but when? Sitting down with Putin under such conditions would mean giving him the right to decide everything in our part of the world. First, we need to create a model, an action plan or a peace plan. Then we can present it to Putin or, more generally, to the Russians,” added Zelensky.
Zelensky once again reiterated his desire to enter theEUunderlining that the days of colonialism are over and for this reason Putin will not be able to prevent Kiev’s choice: “Putin does not play political games. He strikes with his missiles. Why does the whole world let him do this?”. And the Ukrainian president is ready to push for membership of theAtlantic Alliancewhich would represent a reliable guarantee of security for the future: “Who can guarantee that Putin will not return to Ukraine? Which country will come to our aid with its planes and troops? All we have today are bilateral guarantees from our partners for military and financial support. But if Putin returns with his millions of people, will we still defend ourselves?”.
Zelensky’s message is clear: We need steps forward from a diplomatic point of view. For the moment there are no openings towards concessions to the Kremlin, on the contrary, the objective is to return to the pre-invasion status quo. But the situation on the battlefield is particularly delicate, even in areas that appeared to be under Ukrainian control. In recent hours, the Ministry of Defense in Russia announced that the forces deployed in Ukraine have taken control of two other settlements in the Donetsk region, Stary Terny and Trudove, near the industrial city of Kurakhove. Updates will follow…
TheVermilion.com is also on Whatsapp. Simply click here to subscribe to the channel and always be updated (free)