Ironically at a moment Ukraine is still engaged in its highest risk operation of the entire war (the now three-and-a-half week-long Kursk ground incursion) the Zelensky government has of late been talking peace, which is only a fairly recent talking point.
On Friday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled that he's pushing for an international peace summit to be hosted by India aimed at ending the war with Russia. Zelensky reportedly raised the possibility with Narendra Modi during the Indian prime minister's first-ever visit to Kiev last week.
The proposal is clearly part of Zelensky's ongoing efforts to get powerful BRICS countries on board with Ukraine's own 'peace formula'. China has previously been a focus of Keiv's efforts, and now it appears Zelensky is pivoting efforts toward New Delhi.
Beijing, however has sat on the sidelines--particularly when it came to the June 2024 peace summit held in Switzerland--despite pressure from Kiev for the Xi government to lean on Putin to end the invasion.
As for this new diplomatic focus on India, Bloomberg writes:
A Zelenskiy spokesman, Serhiy Nykyforov, said Ukraine is weighing holding the follow-up summit in a country of the Global South, including India "in particular."
Ukraine's '10-point peace formula' includes the demand that Russian forces immediately withdraw from all places it occupies in the country's east (particularly the Donbass). But from Moscow's point of view (and perhaps China's) this is a non-starter.
Earlier this week Zelensky revealed that he intends to present the White House with a plan for victory against Russia. He specified that his plan will also be directly presented to Vice President Kamala Harris as well as former President Donald Trump as the two candidates head into the November election.
"The plan is prepared. I think it’s right that I first present this plan to the US President." Zelensky was quoted in Ukrainian media as saying. "The success of this plan depends on whether we get what is outlined in it, or if we are free to use what is included."
"Kursk region is part of our plan—Ukraine's victory plan. It may sound overly ambitious to some, but for us, it's an important plan," Zelensky had revealed.
One of the stated aims of the Kursk operation is to humiliate the Russian government and military, and to show the West that Putin's 'red lines' are are but bluffs and that there will be no significant retribution in terms of escalation.
Some pundits have pointed out that India will never give up its oil and trade relationship with Russia despite Ukraine and Washington's pleadings...
“India should stop its rapid development, return to poverty and undo decades of fruitful ties with Moscow and in return we will insult Kali, sell military hardware to Pakistan and support Pakistan on the Kashmir issue in the UN.”
— Paul Antonopoulos 🇬🇷🇨🇾 (@oulosP) August 23, 2024
Zelensky’s shamelessness is something to behold. https://t.co/JC30jOO2l0
Ukrainian officials have expressed hope that Kursk can be used to invite more direct intervention of NATO countries. Ultimately, the end-game from Kiev's point of view appears to be to use the invasion of Russian territory to build immediate leverage potentially going into the negotiating table. The strategy of getting China and India on board comes in this context.
