Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested that retaking parts of Ukrainian territory may have to be achieved through diplomatic means, rather than military force.
In an interview with the Japanese news agency, Kyodo News, Zelensky said it is difficult to reclaim some of the Russian occupied parts of his country by force, including the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as things stand.
“Our army lacks the strength to do that. That is true,” Zelenskyy said. “We do have to find diplomatic solutions.”
He stressed that such steps could be considered “only when we know that we are strong enough” to prevent Russia from launching new aggression against Ukraine. Zelenskyy’s comments indicate a shift away from his long-held stance that his country will fight to regain all territory seized by Russia.
Zelensky has called on the outgoing Biden administration to help convince Nato members to invite Ukraine to join the alliance, as Russia continues to make battlefield gains. He said the conflict has entered a “complicated period”.
In October, he revealed a so-called victory plan, which contains a step that some crucial western allies have so far refused to countenance: inviting Ukraine to join Nato before the war ends.
