President Zelensky’s comments mean there could be an end to war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the media prior to talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Chancellery on October 11, 2024 in Berlin. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

The appalling loss of life in Gaza at the hands of Israel’s armed forces is worthy of the coverage that we see daily on our TV screens and on social media platforms. The civilian population is, once more, paying the price.

It is against this backdrop that I have devoted my main column this week to the recent events in Ukraine’s war with Russia. As I have relatives who have fled Kyiv to find safety here in Edinburgh and others who have had to remain in Ukraine, any new developments naturally command my attention.

So, it has been reported that Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said last weekend that he wants to see an early end to the war, adding that if the land under his control can be afforded membership of NATO he is willing to accept that the Ukrainian land currently held by Russia could be returned to Kyiv later through diplomacy rather than through conflict.

This is a major departure from his previous position where he insisted that the war could only end once Russia had returned all seized Ukrainian territory. He said that the “hot phase” of the war could end if NATO offered security guarantees for the part of Ukraine currently under Kyiv’s control and that the return of territory now under control of Russia could be diplomatically negotiated later.

In one of many conversations I have had with my close Ukrainian friend, Yury, who is a former Soviet army tank commander, this was the very solution that he put forward to me months ago as a means of ending the war. But President Zelensky is right to be cautious when he said that any ceasefire had to guarantee that Russia does not “return to take more territory”.

He has changed his position because, as he admitted to a Japanese news outlet, it would be difficult for the Ukrainian armed forces to regain control of the land seized by Russia, saying: “Our army lacks the strength to do that. That is true. We do have to find diplomatic solutions.”

This is also a view that appears to be taking hold within Ukraine’s civilian population. The findings of a Gallup poll released last month indicated that 52 per cent of Ukrainians would like the war to end “as soon as possible” even if that meant conceding Ukrainian territory, with only 38 per cent wanting to “fight until victory” – which is a significant drop from the 78 per cent recorded in 2022.

As far as NATO is concerned it has assured Ukraine that it is on an “irreversible” path to membership but there is a reluctance to admit Ukraine while it is still at war with Russia because, if it was a NATO member, it would immediately mean that the alliance itself was at war with Russia.

The new Trump administration in the USA will obviously have a major influence on these events when it takes over next month. It might, just might, mean that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and this bloody conflict could be ended. Here’s hoping!