Zelensky asks his allies for the same support as Israel until the promise of entry into NATO is fulfilled

Zelensky could hear him say that “Ukraine is closer to NATO than ever”that “Ukraine will continue on this path until it becomes a member of our Alliance.” These are not light words for a Ukrainian. Many Russian propagandists, starting from Vladimir Putinmaintain that this invasion responds to the Western will to accept Ukraine into the European Union and, above all, NATO. The declaration of intent, then, is full of meaning. But there is a more important reason to highlight Rutte’s promises.

Last week, Zelensky traveled to the United States to meet with President Joe Biden and persuade him with his “plan for victory.”

The route outlined included, in the short term, receiving more weapons and faster to counteract the ferocious attacks against its population and infrastructure. Also the permission to hit, with long-range Western missiles, the positions inside Russia from which Putin’s troops attack Ukrainian cities, something that fills a resistance that is frustrated. feels like he is fighting “with one hand tied behind his back” against a nuclear power. Also a clear agenda that accelerates Ukraine’s entry into NATO, an idea that scares almost all its members, fearful of a direct war with Russia.

The truth is that, in the days before the meeting at the White House, Zelensky showed signs of pessimism.

“Russia understands that Ukraine is in trouble, excluded from the European Union and NATO, with almost a third of its territory occupied,” he lamented in an extensive interview for the magazine The New Yorker. “Russia could decide that enough is enough and attack Poland anyway, perhaps in response to some provocation from Belarus. So two and a half years of support and investment from the United States, for which we are very grateful, can be multiplied by zero. It would have to invest from scratch in a war of an entirely different caliber. American soldiers would fight there, and this, I must say, would greatly benefit Russia.”

Zelensky, however, left the United States without a firm commitment from his main ally to the outlines of his plan, and with the perspective that a Trump victory in the November elections would make the slope even steeper. The Republican candidate, with whom he met in New York, placed Ukrainian friendship at the level of the Russian one, and not only that: Trump pressured kyiv to negotiate on favorable terms for the Kremlin. In this context, then, Zelensky thanked Rutte for his visit, but asked for more from the Western bloc.

“Vemos cómo en Oriente Próximo es posible proteger la vida de las personas gracias a la unidad de los aliados”, dijo. “El derribo conjunto de misiles iraníes no es diferente del derribo de misiles rusos, y ambos regímenes van de la mano”. Pidió, en resumen, que mientras se dan los pasos hacia la OTAN, tengan medios para garantizar su supervivencia.

En el frente, entre tanto, escasean las noticias para el entusiasmo. Zelenski resalta, con frecuencia, la ventaja estratégica que les conceden las exitosas incursiones en territorio ruso, en el área de Kursk. Pero la rendición de Vuhledar, reducida a escombros por los invasores tras dos años de defensa numantina, es vista a ojos de algunos analistas como un indicio de desmoronamientos de la resistencia ucraniana, a la defensiva en el Donbás. 

El mando militar del este de Ucrania aseguró el miércoles que ordenó la retirada de esa ciudad minera “para preservar el personal y el equipo militar”. “Las fuerzas rusas han ganado territorio en agosto y septiembre a un ritmo no visto desde 2022”, le dijo Pasi Paroinen, experto del Black Bird Group, a The Washington Post, para un reportaje con un titular contundente: El este de Ucrania se tambalea ante las tácticas mejoradas y la superior potencia de fuego de Rusia. En este contexto viajó Rutte a una Ucrania acuciada por las adversidades.