New strategy in Kiev

Selensky: “Our army is not strong enough!”

Zelenskyi's troops are tired after years of the Russian war of attrition.

(Bild: AFP/Handout)

Change of strategy in Kiev! According to a report by the Japanese news agency Kyodo News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has admitted that his country can only regain part of the territories occupied by Russia through diplomatic means.

He admitted in an interview that it would be difficult for his country to fully recapture the occupied territories militarily. "Our army is not strong enough for this. That's true," the agency quoted Selensky as saying.

"We have to find diplomatic solutions." However, such steps could only be considered "if we know that we are strong enough". With a view to Donald Trump's return to the White House, he said that the US President-elect and his staff would examine the Ukrainian government's "plan for victory".

They knew that it was aimed at putting Ukraine in a "strong position" so that diplomacy could take place. He assumed that there would be further talks with Trump to explain "certain things in more detail". "But there will be no capitulation on the part of Ukraine. That is a fact and I think he understands that."

New strategy picks up speed
The pressure on Kiev to make territorial concessions has recently increased. Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg considers Ukraine's temporary cession of territory to Russia to be an option in order to achieve a quick end to the war.

"If the ceasefire line means that Russia continues to control all occupied territories, this does not mean that Ukraine has to give up the territory forever," the future chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) told the "Table.Briefings" portal.

It is important that the government in Kiev receives security guarantees in return for temporary cessions of territory, said the Norwegian. This could be NATO membership, but there are also "other ways of arming and supporting the Ukrainians".

NATO protective umbrella called for
Stoltenberg supported Selenskyj's demand that no territories should be ceded to Russia in the event of a ceasefire, but believes this is unlikely in view of the current military situation in Ukraine: "We need a ceasefire line, and of course this line should ideally include all the territories that Russia currently controls. However, we can see that this is not necessarily realistic in the near future," said the former NATO Secretary General.

"If we want to end the hot phase of the war, we should put the territory of Ukraine that we control under a NATO umbrella," said Selenskyj on the British television channel Sky News. "This must happen quickly and then Ukraine can regain the remaining parts of its territory in a diplomatic way."