Ukraine ready for partial ceasefire – Bild
Ukraine could be ready to freeze hostilities with Russia on certain parts of the frontline, the German tabloid newspaper Bild has reported, citing what it claims to be Vladimir Zelensky’s revised strategy. The Ukrainian leader’s plan for the conflict also reportedly hinges on Western backers allowing Kiev to use the long-range missiles they have provided, to hit targets deep inside Russia.
Back in July, Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear that Moscow was not interested in a “ceasefire or some kind of pause that the Kiev regime could use to recover losses, regroup, and rearm.”
“Russia is in favor of a complete and final end of the conflict,” Putin said at the time.
A month earlier, the Russian head of state proposed an immediate ceasefire on the condition that Ukraine give legally binding guarantees that it will not seek to join NATO, and withdraw its troops from all territories claimed by Russia. Kiev and its Western backers were quick to dismiss the roadmap.
In an article on Saturday, Bild claimed that Zelensky plans to travel to the US in the coming weeks and present his revised strategy to President Joe Biden as well as Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican rival, Donald Trump.
According to the German media outlet, the main points include a “demand to be allowed to deploy Western long-range weapons deep inside Russia, as well as Ukraine’s readiness to accept local ceasefires along certain portions of the front, and thus a provisional freezing of the situation.”
Last month, Zelensky revealed his intention to present his “victory plan” to the US head of state in September. He suggested that the plan likely involved asking the US for more funds and weapons, saying that victory would depend on whether Washington gives Kiev “what is in this plan.”
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed European diplomats, reported that earlier in the day US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy had told Ukrainian officials behind closed doors that a “full Ukrainian victory would require the West to provide hundreds of billions of dollars worth of support, something neither Washington nor Europe can realistically do.” Kiev is allegedly being urged to “come up with a more realistic plan.”
Since the start of the conflict in February 2022, Zelensky has publicly insisted on the restoration of Ukraine’s 1991 borders, which would include Crimea, either through military or diplomatic means. Moscow says that Kiev must accept the “reality on the ground,” and that the issue of Crimea is “not up for discussion.”
