Ukraine: Zelensky begins express European tour in search of support

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky begins a rapid European tour of key allies on Thursday, starting with the United Kingdom, France and Italy, seeking signs of support, while a major meeting of Kiev's military partners scheduled for Saturday in Germany has been postponed.

These brief consecutive trips come at a time when the Russian army continues its advance in eastern Ukraine and less than a month before the presidential election in the United States, the uncertain outcome of which has raised fears in Kiev for the sustainability of vital American support.

“I will meet separately in each country with the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany,” Volodymyr Zelensky announced Wednesday evening at a press conference in Dubrovnik, Croatia, following a summit with representatives of the Balkan countries.

In detail, Volodymyr Zelensky is expected in London on Thursday to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, according to Downing Street, and in Paris to meet in the afternoon with French Head of State Emmanuel Macron, according to the Elysée.

The Ukrainian president should also take the opportunity, according to a British government spokesperson, to meet in London with Mark Rutte, the new head of NATO.

A Patriot anti-missile defense system, in August 2024 in Ukraine © AFP – Sergei SUPINSKY

Mr. Zelensky will then go to Rome to meet in the evening with the head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni, then Friday morning with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

He is finally expected the same day in Germany, where he was due to participate Saturday in a meeting on the defense of Ukraine finally postponed after the American president Joe Biden had canceled his trip due to Hurricane Milton which threatens Florida.

Mr Zelensky will be received in Berlin by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose government has planned to halve the amount allocated to bilateral military aid for Ukraine in 2025, much to kyiv's dismay.

– “Victory plan” –

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Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to use his European tour to hammer home his demands in terms of military equipment.

Ukraine: the positions of the military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER

The leader, who has been touring Western chancelleries for more than two and a half years, has in recent weeks deplored the slowness of decision-making by his allies, who are still reluctant to deliver longer-range missiles to the Ukrainian army, which finds itself limited in striking military targets deep inside Russian territory.

In the meantime, Russian forces are gradually advancing in the Donetsk region towards Pokrovsk, a logistical hub for Ukrainian troops.

The Ukrainian head of state could also discuss with the British, French, Italian and German leaders his famous “victory plan”, intended, according to him, to create the conditions for a “just end to the war”.

This plan, which remains rather vague at this stage, is to be unveiled at a second peace summit, expected in November, but its dates have still not been confirmed by kyiv, casting doubt on its organization at that time.

Volodymyr Zelensky, who has repeated in recent days that he wants to “force” Moscow to sit at the negotiating table and accept kyiv's conditions, said on Wednesday that his plan “can bridge the gap between the current situation and a successful peace summit”.

“For us, it is a victory plan (…) and when it is fully implemented, Russia will lose its ability to threaten us, to threaten Europe”, he said.

However, the stakes between now and then seem multiple for kyiv and its president, first and foremost the American presidential election on November 5.

The hypothesis of a victory by former President Donald Trump, now the Republican candidate, casts great uncertainty over the sustainability of vital American support for Ukraine. Indeed, he regularly denounces the amounts released by Washington for kyiv since February 2022.

Another major challenge, of which Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledges being aware: he will need greater support from the countries of the “Global South”, including China — an ally of Moscow and which has never publicly denounced the Russian invasion — to put an end to an armed conflict that has caused hundreds of thousands of civilian and military deaths.

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