WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine holds new online conference on peace, calls for revised security system

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff called on Monday for a new international security system to preclude future instances of armed aggression, as he addressed an online conference on securing peace following Russia's invasion.

Andriy Yermak said 66 countries and international organisations had taken part in the conference, devoted to one point of the president's peace plan on ending the more than 2 1/2-year-old war with Russia. The discussions focused on future instances of escalation and aggression.

Zelenskiy planned to present to parliament this week a "victory plan" - a follow-up to the peace plan he drew up in late 2022 calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine's 1991 borders.

That plan formed the basis of a "peace summit" held in Switzerland in June.

Yermak, writing on Zelenskiy's website, said existing security systems "had been unable to propose active means to rule out Russian aggression" and its world-wide consequences.

"We need a renewed security architecture based on international law and the strengthening of Ukraine's own defence capabilities," he wrote. "This system should cover not only a military component, but also sanctions, financial support, investments and broad cooperation in various fields."

Yermak did not say which countries took part in the conference, one of a series in preparation for world-wide summits and intended to draw support from countries in the Global South, particularly Africa and Asia.

Zelenskiy has said he wants to hold a new "world summit" before the end of 2024. Russia was uninvited to the Swiss gathering, dismissed its discussions as irrelevant and said it would attend no such meeting in the future.

Zelenskiy discussed his victory plan last week with leaders of Ukraine's European allies and pressed for permission to use Western long-range weapons against Russian targets.

Few details of the plan have been disclosed. Zelenskiy says it seeks to strengthen Ukraine "both geopolitically and on the battlefield" before any kind of dialogue with Russia.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine’s battlefield situation ‘critical’ – ex-NATO official

Ukraine will soon have to abandon the key Donbass city of Pokrovsk as its defenses slowly crumble under Russian attacks, General Harald Kujat, a former chief of staff of the German armed forces and chairman of the NATO Military Committee, believes.

In an interview with journalist and podcaster Flavio von Witzleben on Sunday, Kujat, who chaired the NATO Military Committee between 2002 and 2005, suggested that Ukraine’s plan to divert Russian units away from Donbass via its Kursk incursion has failed because Russia has not had to curtail its offensive in the region.

“Ukraine originally intended… that the Russians would pull combat troops back [to Kursk Region], but this has now turned out to be to its own detriment because the Russians are now tying up the urgently needed Ukrainian reserves that are now missing in Donbass,” he said, describing the Kursk offensive as an “all-in action.” 

As a result, Russia is slowly advancing in Donbass at a pace consistent with the desire to minimize losses, Kujat believes. Russia has made gains near Pokrovsk, Kujat noted, describing the city, located some 50km northwest of Donetsk, as “of crucial importance” due to its logistical significance.

“Ukraine is still holding its position but it is only a matter of time before this city falls… The situation of the Ukrainian armed forces is critical and it is becoming more and more critical day by day and this is despite the massive material and financial support from the West,” he said.

In light of this, the conflict is on a “downward trend” for Ukraine, Kujat said, adding that this trajectory has clearly accelerated. “If there is no political agreement… there Ukraine will suffer a military defeat,”the general projected.

As fighting rages on the outskirts of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly described the situation there as “difficult.” Several Western media outlets have also warned that the loss of Pokrovsk will not only hamper the Ukrainian military’s logistics in Donbass, but will also deal a severe blow to the country’s economy, as the area serves as a key source of coal for its steel and iron industries.

The Russian military has been making gains in Donbass in recent weeks, liberating dozens of settlements, including the key stronghold of Ugledar in the southern section of the front.

Both Donetsk and Lugansk Regions in Donbass overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in referendums in the autumn of 2022, along with two other former Ukrainian territories.

Reuters/RT