Shifting situations on the frontlines creates opportunity to bring conflict to an end as soon as next year, Ukraine’s leader says
© Getty Images / Michael M. Santiago
The battlefield situation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict “creates opportunity” to take “decisive action” to end the hostilities no later than 2025, Vladimir Zelensky has claimed.
Ukraine’s leader made the remarks on Wednesday during the Ukraine-South East Europe summit in Dubrovnik, Croatia. In his speech, Zelensky praised his Western backers and urged them to shower additional support onto Ukraine.
“We’re counting on the leadership of [US] President [Joe] Biden. We’re counting on the powerful and wise steps of Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy, which will bring security and peace to Europe. And we count on each of you – all of you,” Zelensky told the summit.
He also teased an unspecified “decisive action” to end the conflict as soon as next year, insisting that the battlefield situation creates an opportunity for this in the next few months.
“In October, November and December, we have a real chance to move the situation towards peace and long-term stability. The situation on the battlefield creates an opportunity to make this choice – a choice in favor of decisive action to end the war no later than 2025,” he claimed.
It was not immediately clear what exactly Zelensky was referring to, given that the Ukrainian forces have suffered various setbacks over the past few weeks, losing control over multiple key points in Russia’s Donbass. Moscow’s forces are currently advancing towards the city of Pokrovsk (also known as Krasnoarmeysk), the last major settlement under Ukrainian control in the west of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
Last week, Russian forces liberated the mining town of Ugledar, which had been a key stronghold for Kiev’s troops and was long-considered as a staging point for a potential Ukrainian push towards the Azov Sea port city of Mariupol.
Ukrainian forces have also lost control over multiple villages in Russia’s Kursk Region, with Moscow’s troops reversing some of the gains made by Kiev during its August invasion. The incursion into the Kursk Region had been previously touted by Zelensky as an important part of his so-called “victory plan,” primarily aimed at reinforcing Kiev’s positions ahead of potential talks with Moscow.