‘Zelensky hopes to get an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO out of Biden before he leaves the White House’ – Technologist

It’s as if the campaign for the November 5 US presidential election weren’t already sufficiently surreal. The man arrested on Sunday, September 15, for prowling, armed with an assault rifle, around the golf course where Donald Trump was indulging in his favorite sport, appears to be a staunch supporter of the Ukrainians in their war against Russia. He even tried, unsuccessfully, to enlist in their ranks.

This may seem like just another plot twist to the Americans. However, for the Ukrainians, it’s an additional complication in a shaky American political landscape that is nonetheless crucial to the outcome of a war that has been bleeding them dry. That outcome is becoming ever more pressing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted on September 13 in Kyiv on the necessity to end the war as he opened the Yalta European Strategy conference. However, “Putin may continue to seek something other than peace,” he stated.

The next day, at the same podium, a man with an imposing build, a gray beard and short hair reiterated the argument in his own words: “We know how to fight, but we’re tired… In fact, we’ve been exhausted for some time now. We’re not entitled to stop. We need help.” Ukrainian officer Serhii Varakine commands the drone unit of the 58^th brigade. He began to speak about the war, about the Russians he “can’t consider brothers after what [he’s] seen,” when suddenly he started talking about himself: “I haven’t stopped since 2016. I’m 44 years old. I should have a family, children, and take barbecue photos instead of taking photos of the front.”

Then he fell silent as tears welled up in his eyes, just as they did earlier for Pavlo Palissa, a sturdy man in his forties wearing fatigues and commanding the 93^rd mechanized brigade, when he spoke of the loss of his men.

Another major military push

It has to be done, but not at any price. After two and a half years of high-intensity fighting, Ukraine’s leaders can pride themselves on standing up to an invader known to be quite powerful. Yet they’ve become apprehensive about the prospect of a war with no end. The incursion that began on August 6 into Russian territory in the Kursk region has boosted their short-term morale by showing that they are capable of regaining the initiative.

Now, it’s time to go even further, to escalate the military action to increase pressure on the Russian population and its president in order to push for negotiations to end the war. This is why there is relentless insistence for recalcitrant Western allies − mainly in Washington − to support Kyiv’s use of weapons to strike deep into Russian territory. Since Ukraine’s allies have expressed their desire to help strengthen the country’s negotiating position, it’s time for them to take concrete action to support their words.

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