Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is reportedly concerned that Western nations will increase pressure to negotiate a peace agreement with Russia, potentially ending the ongoing conflict that has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops in the past two months. The New York Times reported on Saturday that Zelensky addressed his diplomats during an emergency strategy session in Kiev, ahead of the upcoming Ukraine peace summit in Saudi Arabia. He expressed his belief that the situation would become even more challenging as pressure mounted in the coming months to find a negotiated path to peace.
According to the report, Zelensky emphasized the need for his ambassadors to use all available tools, including official and unofficial diplomatic channels, media influence, cultural diplomacy, and genuine human sincerity, to persuade both allies and neutral nations that the only way to achieve lasting peace is through complete Russian defeat.
However, many of the nations attending the summit in Saudi Arabia have resisted pressure from the United States to take sides in the conflict, viewing it as a contest between superpowers in which they do not wish to be involved. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s adviser, Celso Amorim, stated remotely during the summit that this is not merely a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but rather a chapter in the long-standing rivalry between Russia and the West.
Russian officials have argued that the continued supply of weapons by Ukraine’s Western supporters is only prolonging the bloodshed. The Russian Defense Ministry stated on Friday that over 43,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since the start of Kiev’s counteroffensive in the Donbass region in early June.
Interestingly, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were reportedly close to a peace deal in talks hosted by Turkey in March 2022, just over a month after the conflict began. However, Ukrainian leaders allegedly discarded the agreement, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who accused them of throwing it into the garbage dump of history during a meeting with African leaders in July.
It remains to be seen how the upcoming Ukraine peace summit will unfold and whether the intensifying pressure to negotiate a truce with Russia will indeed lead to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. As the international community grapples with the complexities of the situation, the Ukrainian president and his diplomats are gearing up for a major diplomatic effort to undermine Russian influence and achieve their goal of a lasting peace through Russian defeat. Only time will tell if their efforts will bear fruit.
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