Kyiv decides to play ahead: political analyst Fesenko on Ukraine's victory plan

He said this on Espreso TV.

“At a press conference at the end of August, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at the end of August that these are our proposals to our American partners on what they can do to strengthen Ukraine's military and political potential, weaken Russia and force it to negotiate an end to the war. This is the purpose of this plan, i.e., proposals for the Americans on what they should do. Why did this idea come up? The fact is that when the U.S. Congress passed the Ukraine Aid Package in April of this year, Republican congressmen included a provision in the law requiring President Biden to submit, and I quote: “a plan for Ukraine's victory over Russia with the assistance of the United States,” commented Volodymyr Fesenko.

In his opinion, this was done on purpose, because in this way, Republican congressmen were demonstrating that Biden does not have a strategy to support Ukraine in order for Ukraine to win this war. Then, in the context of the election campaign, they demanded that the US President present a sufficiently specific and clear plan of what the Biden administration plans to do for Ukraine.

“However, such a plan did not appear in the summer, as required by law. According to some media reports, but there was no official confirmation that the White House submitted any document to Congress in the form of such a plan. The Ukrainian side decided to be proactive, not waiting for Biden and the congressmen to decide how to help Ukraine. We have to make a statement ourselves - how we see what the United States can do for us militarily, economically, diplomatically. I think this is absolutely the right strategy, especially in the context of the election campaign. At the end of August, Zelenskyy said that this plan would be presented to Biden, the two US presidential candidates, Trump and Harris,” the political analyst noted.

According to him, the key idea of this plan is how to force Russia to negotiate, and that Ukraine should negotiate from a position of strength, so Ukraine must first be strengthened.

“By the way, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said the same thing - that Ukraine needs to be strengthened first, and then negotiations can begin. This plan will also be presented to the Congress. Therefore, this is a logical strategy for how to act at this stage of interaction with the United States. That is, it is a response to the American situation, to the specifics of the confrontation between Republicans and Democrats. However, as far as Ukraine and our interests are concerned, we are proactive. This is active diplomacy and correct actions,” Fesenko summarized.

• On September 16, Zelenskyy held meetings to prepare Ukraine's plan to win the war against Russia. Ukraine has already decided on the main points, and the document is more than 90% complete.
• The plan for Ukraine's victory, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to present to US President Joe Biden, contains four main points and one additional point.
• On September 18, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine's victory plan was fully prepared. Now, the most important thing is the “determination to implement”.