For weeks now, we have been told repeatedly that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a "secret plan for victory" over Russia that he would unveil by the end of the month. That finally happened this week, with Zelensky launching a "charm tour" across a variety of stops, primarily in the United States, seeking to gain the full support of American leaders (and potential leaders) to achieve his nation's ambitious goals. But what he actually managed to achieve appeared to be more of a crash course in the finer details of divisive American politics while taking a sledgehammer-style approach to a delicate situation that one Ukrainian foreign policy analyst described as being "a big mistake." Zelensky wound up poking his nose into American party politics and making demands that even those most likely to support his requests edged away from carefully.
Zelensky's "victory plan" turned out to be essentially nothing more than the same list of demands he's been making all along. If anything, his requirements were even more extreme than his previous speeches seemed to be. They can best be summed up by saying that Zelensky is yet again thumbing his nose at the idea of any sort of negotiated peace deal with Moscow. He was basically telling American leaders, "If you just give me a lot more weapons that are even more powerful than what we've already received, I will not only drive the Russians out of Ukraine but I will defeat Russia itself." Oh, and he would also like an invitation to join NATO.
He wants longer-range, even more powerful weapons and the permission to use them anywhere inside of Russia (including Moscow) that he pleases. He would also like to see unfettered access to American and allied cash to pay his people and rebuild the country's shattered infrastructure. In exchange, he promises to pound the nuclear-armed Russian bear into submission. Having watched this ongoing debacle play out for more than two years, how likely does any of that sound to you?
Perhaps Zelensky was tempted into this course of action by his perceived "success" in launching an incursion to the Kursk Oblast. The move was perhaps surprisingly effective as a diversion, at least temporarily, but it did not halt Russia's gains on the Eastern front. If anything, Putin appears to have used that move to his own advantage, at least in the short term. Calling Zelensky's approach to American and NATO leaders in this matter "ham-handed" would be a disreputable insult to the pork industry. He only succeeded in pushing those who have been dubious about endless military aid to Ukraine further away while antagonizing those who have thus far wanted to keep the spigots open.
Zelensky was attempting to bolster support for additional aid from Joe Biden, which makes sense to a certain extent. But at the same time, his decision to meet with Kamala Harris in the middle of a campaign stop in the swing state of Pennsylvania thrust him squarely into the crosshairs of a divided American electorate and a group of politicians who are scrambling to secure the votes of increasingly small pockets of potential supporters. Appearing with Kamala Harris put Zelensky in the position of having placed all of his eggs in one basket. At the same time, he publicly questioned Donald Trump's "ability to stop the war," a campaign pledge that he has been running on. He also called JD Vance "too radical" on the subject of Ukraine. He held a separate meeting with Trump at Trump Tower, seeking to staunch the bleeding a bit, but the damage had been done.
Finally, Zelensky's demands to be invited to join NATO are simply pie-in-the-sky wishes. NATO has already clearly stated that there will be no offer extended to Ukraine while they are still in the midst of a war with Russia. NATO's leaders have no more of a desire to see mushroom clouds rising above their own cities than they do over Kyiv. Zelensky needs to be mindful of the needs and concerns of his allies while the world teeters on the edge of a possible nuclear confrontation. If he keeps pushing for a "take it or leave it" deal, he may be sadly surprised if we wind up leaving it.
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