Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that his month-long incursion into Russia's Kursk region is only one part of a plan to end the war. He says he will present the entire plan to Joe Biden next month when he visits the U.S. for the UN General Assembly kickoff.
The Washington Post reported that the Kursk incursion has disrupted plans for a peace summit that would have taken place in Qatar next month. Zelenskyy denies that.
"The Kursk operation is not related to any of the points of (Ukraine's) peace formula. Is the Kursk operation connected to the second peace summit? Yes, it is. Because the Kursk operation is one of the points of Ukraine's victory plan," the president said.
What is this "victory plan"?
The four-stage plan began with the attack in Kursk Oblast.
“Second direction is Ukraine’s strategic place in the security infrastructure of the world,” Zelenskyy continued. “Third direction is the powerful package of forcing Russia to end the war in a diplomatic way, and the fourth direction is economical.”
“Kursk region is part of our plan. The plan of our victory. It may sound ambitious for someone, but it’s a very important plan for us,” he said.
It not only sounds "ambitious." It sounds ludicrous. It also sounds confused, half-baked, and demented.
But it's OK. Zelenskyy is going to leave most of the execution of the plan to the United States.
“The success of this plan depends on him [President Biden]. Will they give what we have in this plan or not? Will we be free to use what we have in this plan or not,” he asked.
Presumably, the "powerful package of forcing Russia to end the war in a diplomatic way" will be mean Joe Biden threatening Russian President Vladimir Putin with something. Perhaps the "strongly worded letter" will turn the tide of the war and force Putin to the negotiating table.
The Ukrainian army is still advancing, still taking small villages and Russian prisoners.
Ukraine’s military commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrsky, said the blitz had so far resulted in the capture of 100 settlements, along with 594 Russian soldiers. Ukraine is holding about 500 square miles in Kursk, and is still advancing and “dealing palpable damage,” Syrsky said. But Russia has moved more than 30,000 soldiers to the area, many from the battlefields in Ukraine’s south, and there are about “50 clashes with the enemy” daily.
The most intense fighting, though, has continued in eastern Ukraine, where Russia’s steady push to conquer the entire Donbas industrial region moves forward. Key to this battle is the logistical hub of Pokrovsk, at the junction of two major roads. Ukraine’s military is “doing everything possible to stabilize the situation in this direction,” Syrsky said, but the task remains “quite difficult.”
The Ukrainian military claims that the Russians have had to withdraw 30,000 troops from the Donbas region to deal with the Kursk incursion. Even if it's true — and there's no evidence for it — it doesn't seem to be slowing their advance in the east. Donbas will be overrun unless something dramatic happens soon.
Meanwhile, the Russians are singularly unimpressed with Zelenskyy's "peace plan."
“If the West is interested in normalizing the situation in Europe, it is necessary to sit down at the negotiating table without paperwork in the form of the ‘Zelensky formula,’” said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He was referencing the earlier "peace summit" in Zurich that Russia did not attend.
"Russia launched its biggest ever aerial attack against Ukraine on Monday, hitting energy infrastructure across the country," reported CNN. It's a clear sign that no matter what plan Zelenskyy is going to present to Biden next month, it will not contain a magical formula for a Ukrainian victory in the war.
