Zelensky: The war will end before the end of 2025
The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Russian war on Ukraine should end by 2025 at the latest, calling for progress on Ukraine’s NATO accession.
“The current situation on the battlefield provides an opportunity to make a decisive decision to end the war before the end of 2025,” Zelensky said at a press conference in Dubrovnik during his visit to Croatia, on the sidelines of a summit of Southeast European leaders.
“We count on President Biden’s leadership, as well as on the strong and wise steps that Britain, France, Germany and Italy will take to ensure security and peace in Europe,” he added.
Zelensky said that Ukraine’s invitation to join NATO, and to obtain future membership, represents a real step towards achieving world peace.
During his visit, the Ukrainian president also signed an agreement with Croatia to enhance cooperation between the two countries, especially in the areas of humanitarian aid and mine clearance.
Ukraine also benefits from Croatia’s experience in prosecuting war crimes, based on its experience during its war from 1991 to 1995.
In addition to Croatia, the summit was attended by prime ministers, heads of state or foreign ministers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Türkiye.
The summit participants issued a joint declaration condemning “Russia’s aggression” against Ukraine, expressing support for Zelensky’s efforts to achieve peace, and supporting Ukraine’s accession to NATO and post-war reconstruction.
The joint declaration said, “There can be no free, peaceful and prosperous Europe without a free, peaceful and prosperous Ukraine”.
In contrast, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that achieving peace in Ukraine will be impossible if Kiev joins NATO.
During the weekly briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the West of trying to turn Ukraine into a springboard for confrontation with Russia.
On the other hand, Zelensky said that he intends to present his “victory plan” for Ukraine to Western leaders this week, but a meeting to discuss it was postponed because US President Joe Biden was forced to stay in the United States to deal with Hurricane Milton, which hit the state of Florida.
Zelensky expressed hope that his meeting with Biden at the US Ramstein air base in Germany, which was scheduled for Saturday with about 20 Western leaders and defense ministers, would be rescheduled soon.
“We’ll present our plan for victory in detail there, as we presented it at the White House,” Zelenskyy said, confirming that he plans to meet the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Germany this week to present the plan.
Zelensky explained that his so-called “victory plan” focuses on strengthening Ukraine’s position geopolitically and on the battlefield before any dialogue with Russia.
“Any weakness in the ranks of our allies will give Russian President Vladimir Putin an incentive,” he said, noting the importance of strengthening Ukraine with security guarantees and weapons, and ensuring its future after the war.
He added, “Putin is only understanding the language of force”.
Although the details of the plan remain under wraps, some elements have been leaked, including the need for quick decisions on issues that Western allies have been discussing since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Kiev is still waiting for a decision from Western partners on its repeated requests for long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russian territory.