As President Zelenskyy promotes Ukraine's peace plan and pushes for a second international summit this year to offer his vision of a path to peace, many articles and opinions in the Western media have focused on this topic.
President Zelenskyy said he wants to present a "plan for a just peace" at the talks scheduled for November and expressed a desire for the second summit to be hosted by a country in the Global South and for russia to attend. This was reported in Le Monde.
In this context, Reuters also writes about the recent visit of Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to China to discuss ways to achieve a just peace in the war with russia, as well as to discuss bilateral relations.
Dmytro Kuleba's visit is the first visit by a senior Ukrainian official to China since russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, which China has not publicly condemned.
In addition, according to Le Monde, President Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with Trump. "I agreed with President Trump to discuss in person what steps can make peace just and truly lasting. I noted the vital bipartisan and bicameral American support for the defence of our nation's freedom and independence," Zelenskyy said.
In an editorial from The Telegraph, the author argues that for the negotiations to succeed, they must address the cause of the war: russia's ambitions as a "great power". Until they are suppressed, there will be no peace. These ambitions are non-negotiable; they can only be denied by military force.
More than 200 talks have already been held in futile attempts to end the war. Russia sees negotiations as a means to defeat its opponents. Russia seeks "peace" on its own terms to undermine Ukraine's sovereignty and independence. This was established during the first eight years of the war and confirmed on 14 June when the terrorist putin reiterated his terms of "negotiations", demanding that Ukraine hand over Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as Crimea; withdraw its troops from the territory Ukraine controls in these four regions; abandon its goal of joining NATO; and agree to "denazification" and full demilitarisation.
Putin's terms are tantamount to a call for surrender and indicate that he supports russia's goal of destroying Ukrainian statehood and identity. Knowing this, it is shocking that NATO Allies are calling for talks between russia and Ukraine.
To summarise the above, I would like to emphasise that the war in Ukraine should undoubtedly end in a just and lasting peace, and the only basis for this peace is President Zelensky's 10-point plan. This plan is now supported by the majority of civilised countries in the world. The policy of promoting a just peace among the countries of the Global South is a strategic and far-sighted step by the President of Ukraine. This plan should prevail under any external conditions and political contexts, as it is based on respect for international law and the UN Charter.
US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Friday, July 19, that he had spoken by telephone with Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky, and pledged to end the European country's war with Russia. "I appreciate President Zelensky for reaching out because I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Zelensky confirmed the call, adding: "We agreed with President Trump to discuss at a personal meeting what steps can make peace fair and truly lasting." "I noted the vital bipartisan and bicameral American support for protecting our nation's freedom and independence," he said in a post on social media platform X.
Volodymyr Zelensky is trying to regain the diplomatic initiative after the "peace mission" – considered ill-advised by the West – led at the beginning of July by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who went successively to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing with his own proposals.
At a press conference on Monday, July 15, the Ukrainian president said he wanted to present a "plan" for a "just peace" at talks scheduled for November. This summit is likely to take place in the month of the US presidential election, the outcome of which is crucial to future military support for Ukraine.
Sir Keir Starmer has hailed a “very special moment” as Volodymyr Zelensky visited Downing Street for the first time under his premiership.
The Prime Minister greeted Mr Zelensky with a hug and a handshake outside No 10 on Friday, before sitting down with him for bilateral talks and hosting him at a historic Cabinet session.
on Friday, before sitting down with him for bilateral talks and hosting him at a historic Cabinet session.
The president of Ukraine became the first foreign leader to address the meeting of senior UK ministers since Bill Clinton, when he was US president in 1997.
In the bilateral meeting, Sir Keir said the UK was “united in our Parliament” in supporting Kyiv for as long as possible.
For a negotiation to be successful, it must solve the cause of the war: Russia’s ‘Great Power’ ambitions. Until this is repressed, there will be no peace. These ambitions are not negotiable; they can only be denied through military power.
The full-scale war did not start for any of the reasons Putin claimed. It started because negotiations failed to deliver a Ukrainian defeat and the West failed to deter him.
In 2022, several countries argued publicly in favour of greater Nato involvement. Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia put forward a 10-point plan to save Ukraine. Poland argued that if this did not stop the war, then Nato should go further and protect the people of Ukraine. Their call for Nato to do more continues relentlessly.
European Union member states will on Wednesday discuss options for extending the renewal period of sanctions on the Russian central bank's assets to secure a Group of Seven plan to extend a major loan to Ukraine, a EU draft document showed.
Leaders of the Group of Seven major democracies and the EU, agreed in June to use the interest on frozen Russian assets to back a $50-billion loan for Ukraine to help it defend itself against Moscow's invasion.
The bulk of the some $300 billion in assets is held in EU financial institutions, mostly in Belgium. According to EU regulations, the sanctions regime on Russia needs the unanimous approval of EU states to be renewed every six months.
Ukraine's foreign minister arrived in China on Tuesday for talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi on ways to achieve a "fair peace" in the war with Russia and also to discuss bilateral relations, he said.
Dmytro Kuleba's visit is the first by a high-ranking Ukrainian official since Russia's full-scale February 2022 invasion, which China, the world's second largest economy, has not publicly condemned.
Kuleba said he would hold "extensive, detailed, substantive negotiations" with his Chinese counterpart, but did not say when the talks would happen. He said earlier his trip would continue until Thursday.
Moving forward, any shift in territorial control in these regions will depend on two factors: military force mobilization and supply of weaponry. Ukraine has recently struggled to mobilize enough forces, while Russia, with a much larger army, appears to be in a relatively better position on that front. Meanwhile, Ukraine has recently secured major military assistance packages from the United States and other NATO countries, while Russia continues to receive steady technology and supplies via North Korea, Iran, China, and its own domestic arms manufacturing capacity. Thus, Russia currently has the overall military advantage, but it is far from a decisive and irreversible one. But the conflict is not confined to purely the military realm.
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