No loud announcements, a minimalist statement in the courtyard of the Elysée, when Emmanuel Macron accompanied Volodymyr Zelensky to his car, between two downpours. And yet, the Ukrainian president’s visit to Paris on Thursday, October 10, as part of a mini European tour, comes at a particularly critical time for Ukraine in its war against the Russian invader.
Zelensky again insisted on his calls for greater support from his continental allies, at a time when Russian troops are advancing in the east of the country, and less than four weeks before the US elections, which could, especially in the case of The return of Donald Trump to the White House constitutes a turning point in the conflict. The Republican candidate continues to criticize the aid granted by the Biden administration to kyiv during the campaign and claims to be able to resolve the conflict in twenty-four hours. A prospect feared both in Kyiv and in European capitals.
In Paris, as in London on Thursday morning, in Rome in the afternoon and then in Berlin on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky came to present his “victory plan”as he did on September 26 in Washington with Joe Biden. This document, which has not yet been revealed to the public, is conceived, according to the Ukrainians, as a new attempt to mobilize Western support at the military, economic and diplomatic levels. The goal is to reverse the balance of power, currently favorable to the Russians, and force Vladimir Putin to one day begin negotiations.
A ceasefire “is not an issue”
Before any discussion, the Ukrainians themselves demand effective security guarantees, ideally through their membership in NATO, a demand long rejected by Washington and Berlin, the United Kingdom and France that show greater openness on the issue. If the whole world is trying with difficulty to project itself beyond the American electoral meeting, Zelensky assured the press that a ceasefire “It is not a topic of our discussions”. In the courtyard of the Elysée, he even attributed the speculation on this topic, published on Thursday in the Italian press, to “disinformation” Russian.
The tour itself was not without serious setbacks. Volodymyr Zelensky would participate on Saturday, together with Joe Biden, in a meeting of the so-called “Ramstein” format, the cornerstone of Western arms supplies to kyiv. This body, until now led by the United States, must be placed under the supervision of NATO to avoid being taken hostage by a possible Trump administration. But the meeting was postponed, since the American president was detained in his country due to Hurricane Milton.
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