Ukraine assembles coalition to strategise war diplomacy

President’s spokesperson Serhii Nykyforov announced that Ukraine is currently compiling a list of partners to join a working group designed to bolster national defense and develop a unified diplomatic approach to ending the war.

Ukrainian citizen next to her house following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv

He revealed that Kyiv is assembling key European partners who, alongside the United States, can provide maximum strategic support.

“The final list of participants is still being finalised, but these are countries with long-range capabilities, countries making significant investments in Ukrainian weapons production and countries pivotal to Ukraine’s future in NATO,” Ukrainian Pravda cited Nikiforov. 

The spokesperson announced that Ukraine plans to hold a meeting of these countries in December “to coordinate and develop a unified position” to ensure Ukraine’s strength “in any scenario – both at the negotiation table and on the battlefield”.

The group’s creation emerged during a joint press conference between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany’s opposition, who visited Kyiv on December 9, 2024.

Merz initially proposed establishing a contact group comprising Germany, France, Poland, and the United Kingdom to exchange ideas on ending the war. Zelenskyy responded that Ukraine is already organising such a group and hopes to include Denmark, with the first meeting planned for December.

The president previously stated that Ukraine requires a just and strong peace that Russians cannot dismantle in a few years, as they have done before.

 Zelenskyy also commented toppling of Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. He noted that Assad’s regime has effectively fallen due to the substantial Russian military presence being redirected to Ukraine, stating that approximately 800,000 Russian troops are currently engaged in the Ukrainian conflict.

“We see that Assad’s regime has fallen. Why? Because there are no considerable Russian troops there. Let’s be honest. And not just because of the efforts of the rebels and their supporters, but also because there are no considarable Russian forces there,” Zelenskyy said prior to his meeting with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine.

The president stated that nearly 800,000 Russian troops are currently in Ukraine.

“This means that the entire army of the large pseudo-empire is fighting against the Ukrainian people. The same applies to Africa. We know that Wagnerites [fighters of the Russian state-funded Wagner Private Military Company – ed.] were there,” he added.

Zelenskyy added that Russian forces aim to ensure their regimes maintain influence on the African continent.

The president emphasised that if Ukraine falls, “Putin will come back to Syria, Africa and many other countries.” To prevent this, Zelenskyy stressed the importance of global unity in supporting Ukraine’s success.

Previously, Interfax-Ukraine reported that Ukraine is concerned that if Russian troops continue to advance, they could seise critical natural resources, which would strengthen not only Russia but also the regimes in North Korea and Iran.

“On resources. This is a very important topic because the Russian war is essentially a colonial war. Russia is trying not only to destroy Ukraine as a nation and as a state, but also to seize its natural resources. This is a very colonial approach,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyy said. 

He elaborated that this is exactly what Russia does every time they enter the occupied territory of Ukraine or seize a new field of Ukrainian natural resources.

“They immediately begin to loot. And we are concerned that if they continue to advance, they could also capture some of the very important critical resources that would strengthen not only Russia but also the regimes in North Korea and Iran. Which, again, would pose a direct security threat to the US interests in the Middle East and the Pacific, because some of these resources are really very important, like uranium and titanium,” Tykhyy said. 

DeepState, a group of military analysts, updated their interactive map of hostilities in Ukraine on the night of 5-6 December, reporting that Russian troops had occupied the settlements of Novopustynka, Stari Terny, Illinka and Novodmytrivka in Donetsk Oblast.