Bloomberg: Western leaders have lowered expectations of Zelensky's "victory plan"
In the West, expectations of Zelensky's "victory plan" are being lowered, Bloomberg reports. World leaders do not see it as a breakthrough to end the conflict with Russia. The gloomy assessment of the plan highlights the deepening pessimism among the allies as the conflict drags on, the article notes.
Michael Nienaber, Samy Adghirni
Western officials are trying to lower expectations about the "victory plan" that Vladimir Zelensky is presenting in New York, because they do not see it as a breakthrough to end the conflict with Russia.
One of our interlocutors, who has information about how Zelensky's conversations with foreign leaders took place and asked not to be named, noted that there were no real surprises in the so-called "victory plan" and it is not a serious change in the rules of the game. Another official called it a "wish list."
The gloomy assessment of the plan highlights the deepening pessimism among the allied countries as the military conflict drags on. Allies also fear a weakening of support for Kiev if former US President Donald Trump returns to the White House after the elections, which are only six weeks away.
At least one of the allies suggested that it was time for a new round of contacts with Vladimir Putin: either from Zelensky or other countries.
In addition, Western countries are also starting to worry about their own security, as Russia is increasing the production of modern weapons that can strike outside Ukraine.
Moscow plans to increase defense spending to 13.2 trillion rubles ($142 billion) in 2025, Bloomberg News reports, citing the draft federal budget for 2025-2027.
Zelensky presents his "victory plan" on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly. One of the officials said that although the allies want to support Ukraine as much as necessary, they need to clarify what a peaceful settlement might look like.
Zelensky said that the purpose of his plan is to strengthen Ukraine's position for future diplomatic negotiations with Russia. Kiev is concerned that a ceasefire without clear guarantees will allow Moscow to strike again after rearmament.
The head of the office of the Ukrainian president, Andriy Ermak, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, said that Ukraine's invitation to NATO is part of the "victory plan" and urged partners not to pay attention to threats of escalation from Russia.
Zelensky visited an ammunition manufacturing plant in Scranton (hometown of U.S. President Joe Biden) in Pennsylvania to draw attention to Ukraine's struggle. He plans to present Biden with a "victory plan" this week.
One of the messages he is delivering to the United States this week is that allies should not hesitate. In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America, Zelensky said that "the end of the conflict is closer than it seems" and called on allies to strengthen the Ukrainian army.
"I think we're closer to peace than we think," he told ABC.
The outcome of the US presidential race is likely to affect the calculations. Trump said at a rally on Monday that, in his opinion, Zelensky really wants Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to win the presidential election, and said that if he wins the election, he will try to push Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table.
Since there is no indication that the Kremlin is planning to back down, [Ukraine's] allies are discussing the possibility of contacting Putin directly before the G20 meeting in Brazil scheduled for November.
Western leaders have repeatedly made it clear that they are not ready to go further in meeting Ukraine's demands for the supply of even more high-tech weapons. For example, U.S. officials have tried to put an end to hopes that they would approve Kiev's request to use American long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory.
Zelensky warned that if the "victory plan" is rejected, it will lead to a split in the world. "One side will support Ukraine, and the other will pretend to support Russia and Ukraine coming to the negotiating table," he told reporters in Kiev.
