Zelenskyy’s “Victory Plan” Headed for Defeat
After weeks of trumpeting his “Victory Plan”, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy finally unveiled it publicly during a speech at the Ukrainian parliament Oct. 16. The Ukrainian President claimed it would allow his country to finally put an end to the war by defeating Russia, a premise that ignores the reality that Russian forces have been advancing on all fronts, while the Ukrainian forces are falling apart, with a number of deserters so high that even the Western media have to report it. That explains at least in part why Western leaders have shown little to no enthusiasm for the plan.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte admitted that the plan was not a major topic of discussion at the NATO defense ministers’ meeting on Oct. 17-18, after Zelenskyy had presented it in Brussels. Membership in the Alliance will come “some day”, Rutte reiterated, but not now. The Polish minister expressed skepticism of the plan, because of the difficult “situation on the front” and the “enormous war fatigue”. And while U.S. President Biden, who was in Germany at that time, held a joint meeting with Chancellor Scholz, French President Macron, and UK Prime Minister Starmer in Berlin on Oct. 18, they did not endorse the “victory plan”, nor did Biden meet with Zelenskyy.
So what is in the famous plan, which consists of five points and three secret annexes? First, is Ukraine membership in NATO; second, ensuring the military buildup of Ukraine; third, a strategic deterrence package vis-a-vis Russia. The fourth and fifth points aim to “tempt” the West with attractive offers. Thus, strategic partners would be offered joint investment in and use of the country’s rich “natural resources and critical metals”. (Points 2, 3 and 4 all have a secret annex.) And fifth, Kyiv “offers to replace certain U.S. military contingents stationed in Europe with Ukrainian units”, once the war against Russia has been won. Zelenskyy specified on Oct. 17 that this would allow the U.S.”to do more in its priority regions, in the Indo-Pacific or anywhere… But for this, we need to win.”
It should be stressed that although Western leaders have not supported the “Victory Plan”, they have continued to promise more money, weapons and equipment to Kyiv to keep NATO’s war machine going, with the help of the Russian assets frozen in Western banks, and to prevent a sudden collapse of the international financial system at the same time. At the same time, two major military exercises are ongoing in Europe, including Steadfast Noon, which involves scenarios for a NATO nuclear war with Russia. So, the “strategic defeat of Putin’s Russia” remains a priority, although the focus has somewhat shifted for the time being to South-West Asia.
