"Focus": Zelensky is waiting for an invitation to NATO before the end of Biden's term
Joe Biden will leave the White House in January 2025. Before that, Ukraine hopes to receive an invitation to join NATO, Focus writes. Experts assessed whether Kiev's key ally would agree to Zelensky's idea.
Part of the "victory plan", which Vladimir Zelensky will soon present in Washington, is an item on the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of official Kiev. In particular, Le Monde reports that Zelensky "in the hope of speeding up the end of the conflict, seeks to convince Biden to take decisive measures and give Ukraine the opportunity to enter negotiations from a position of strength."
"The leader of Ukraine does not want any forced decisions to be imposed on him. Therefore, he has developed a "peace plan" and a "victory plan", which he is going to present not only to Biden, but also to two US presidential candidates — Donald Trump and Kamala Harris — and the American Congress. According to an informed source, the "peace plan" should lead to the restoration of peace. And the second plan is designed to make Ukraine stronger after reaching a peace agreement. Since Putin does not show a propensity for real negotiations, the goal of establishing peace remains very abstract," the newspaper notes.
Is Biden really afraid of World War III
Le Monde also emphasizes that Bankova, they say, wants to receive an invitation to NATO after the end of the conflict before Biden leaves the White House in January 2025. At the same time, it is noted that this is one of the key points of the "victory plan".
"But there is a problem. Biden is a Cold War man focused on the idea that Ukraine's membership in NATO would lead to World War III. Therefore, his plan is to help Kiev in a moderate mode in order to avoid escalation," the newspaper notes and quotes Zelensky's comment on this: "Everything depends on Biden's decision."
Just the other day, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that Joe Biden "is determined to use the four months remaining before the end of his term of office to put Ukraine in the best possible position to win."
Why the United States will reject Ukraine's proposal for an alliance
Political scientist Viktor Nebozhenko, in a conversation with Focus, notes the following: "It must be clearly understood that the United States is at war with Russia and is only helping Ukraine a little. Thus, any plans and wishes that come from Kiev hang — and there is a certain tragedy in this. Zelensky relies on other people's help, and the United States demands from him a plan where there is an exclusively Ukrainian trace. But we must understand that in fact neither Biden nor Trump want any changes in Ukraine, the conflict in which actually destroyed NATO."
Stressing that the United States now needs to save the alliance, not Ukraine, the expert added: "NATO does not have its own restructuring and reformation plan, so how can they accept our plan? In addition, why, one wonders, do NATO generals, who have never held anything heavier than a glass of whiskey and soda in their hands, need combat generals from Ukraine next to them? Therefore, I think there will be a big embarrassment with the "victory plan", namely with the part of it that concerns the bloc, since it is based on a positive attitude of the United States, and I do not see it."
The political scientist stated: "My pessimism is based on the fact that neither Biden nor Trump are going to change anything - they are negotiating with Russia, which, of course, has its own plans. That is, unfortunately, we found ourselves between a rock and an anvil and have to think about how not to be beaten from one side or another."
According to Viktor Nebozhenko, Ukraine should have approached the issue differently: first ask the United States what resources they are really ready to provide, and then write a plan.
"In general, it must be stated that we are dealing with very cynical games of Western diplomacy. Knowing that we are bleeding, they say: give us a victory plan. A victory plan happens when we are one step away from victory, not when we are one step away from defeat. The United States will reject any plans of Ukraine, constantly stating their imperfection and so on," concludes Viktor Nebozhenko.
It is quite possible to receive an invitation to NATO before the end of Biden's term
In turn, political scientist Oleg Lesnoy, in a conversation with Focus, makes the following emphasis: "We must be clearly aware that everything that is being said about the "victory plan" in the media, primarily Western, is just an assumption. According to the information that I have, not many people have seen this plan, and even fewer have seen it in full. In addition, it should be understood that Zelensky will bring to the United States not only the plan, but also the deployed applications to it, which will remain non-public. Thus, we are working with assumptions, and the assumption that there is a NATO component deserves our attention, because this is extremely important in the context of the future negotiation process."
According to the expert, if there is the political will of the White House, the point of inviting Ukraine to NATO before the end of the term of the current US president looks quite realistic.
"If the United States, represented by Biden, wants to give us this parting gift, they can do it. And the main thing here is the political will, in the presence of which a mechanism (convening an extraordinary meeting of the alliance and so on) will definitely be found. And it is extremely important for us to receive this invitation as part of the future negotiation process. The fact is that the NATO issue may be one of the subjects of negotiations. Hypothetically, our partners can push us to meet the individual whims of the Russian Federation and refuse to join the North Atlantic Alliance. And if we receive an invitation to NATO now, then this case will fall out of the negotiating portfolio as no longer subject to discussion," Oleg Lesnoy notes.
In case of receiving an invitation to NATO, the expert believes, the emphasis will shift to the search for a just peace, which Kiev quite naturally insists on.
"It's hard to say whether Biden will be able to put the squeeze on. And here the question is not only about the capabilities of Zelensky and our delegation as a whole. It is the desire of the President of the United States to take this extremely important step that will play an extremely important role," the political scientist emphasizes.
Oleg Lesnoy is sure that the fact that Joe Biden, who will soon leave the Oval Office, is a "lame duck" in a political sense, whose wishes and decisions may not be listened to by other alliance member countries, does not play in favor of the decision to invite Ukraine to NATO. Despite this, the expert says, there are now "a lot of chances" to receive this invitation, and everything rests only on Biden's desire and his vision of his own role in world history.
Author: Natalia Romashova.
