The situation at a glance: Ukraine meeting in limbo due to Biden’s cancellation

Hurricane “Milton” in the USA and the postponement of US President Joe Biden’s visit to Germany are throwing Western strategy meetings to support Ukraine into disarray. The White House canceled the president’s trip to Berlin next weekend because of the expected hurricane. Biden will also not personally attend a meeting of Ukraine’s military supporters at the US base in Ramstein on Saturday, the Pentagon said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj was also expected to attend this meeting with many heads of state and government to talk about his so-called victory plan.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) showed understanding for Biden’s decision. “If such storms raged in my country, then I would also make this decision,” he said in the program “RTL Direkt spezial – At the table with Olaf Scholz”. It would have been “a very important meeting,” but it will be rescheduled. Biden announced a phone call with Scholz to find an alternative date. Like the US President, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken also canceled his trip to Germany.

For the southern part of Ukraine, Wednesday night began again with an air alert because, according to the military, numerous Russian combat drones were in the air. Russian planes dropped glide bombs again on the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday evening. During the day, at least two people were killed and around two dozen people were injured in attacks with these heavy bombs.

When will Zelensky get an answer to his “victory plan”?

Zelensky’s so-called victory plan is not public in detail. However, he plans to increase military pressure on Russia thanks to Western help. Moscow should realize that the war of aggression against Ukraine cannot be won. That is why Kiev is demanding that it be allowed to use long-range weapons from the USA and Great Britain against military targets in the Russian rear. Ukraine also hopes to be accepted into NATO or similarly strong security guarantees.

But the international meetings with a response from the supporting countries are canceled because of Biden’s cancellation, or their format is unclear. It wasn’t just the Federal Chancellor and the US President who should have held a conference in Berlin. The government in London confirmed that a four-way meeting with Biden, Scholz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron was actually planned for Saturday morning in Berlin. Before Biden’s cancellation, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had also announced their coming to Ramstein.

Kyiv no longer expects a peace summit in November

Ukraine is under military pressure; in the east, Russian troops are advancing into one town after another despite high losses. At the same time, Ukraine hopes to make progress with diplomatic initiatives as long as Biden, who is well disposed towards it, is still in office in Washington. However, Kiev is already expecting a postponement of the second peace summit hoped for in November. An advisor in the presidential office, Darija Sarivna, told the Telegraph news portal that a November date would probably not be possible. Conferences were currently underway to prepare the content. The summit date can only be set afterwards.

Ukraine brought together more than 100 countries and organizations for its first peace summit in Switzerland in mid-June. Russia refused to take part from the outset and was therefore not invited. The follow-up meeting – this time with Moscow if possible – was actually supposed to take place before the US election on November 5th. If former President Donald Trump moves back into the White House, it is uncertain whether and how much he will help the country attacked by Russia.

Zelenskyj: Maintain pressure on Russia in Kursk

In his evening video message on Tuesday, Zelensky emphasized how important the advance of Ukrainian troops into the Russian Kursk region continues to be. “The fighting in the Kursk region is now entering its third month,” he said. “We are maintaining the necessary pressure on Russia in this area.” Mobile units of the Ukrainian army advanced across the border into the Kursk region on August 6th and captured the small town of Sudja on August 8th. According to their own statements, the Ukrainians occupy more than 1,000 square kilometers. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the area to be retaken, but little progress has been made. Zelensky sees the conquest as a bargaining chip for a possible exchange.

Bundeswehr sees progress in recruiting in Ukraine

The Bundeswehr sees great progress in recruiting new soldiers in Ukraine. “We have an insight into the Ukrainian recruitment numbers. And they have increased significantly since the spring, namely in the five-digit range,” said Christian Freuding, head of the Ukraine Special Staff in the Federal Ministry of Defense, to the editorial network Germany (RND). The Ukrainian army is also receiving more ammunition. “The artillery superiority of the Russians is no longer as high as it was in the spring; it has decreased from eight to one to around three to one.”

In Ukraine itself, the current mobilization is viewed less optimistically. Romankostenko, a member of the parliament’s defense committee, spoke of declining recruitment numbers in an interview with Radio NV. He warned that the Ukrainian army would soon no longer be able to compensate for the losses. In another interview,kostenko recommended further lowering the recruiting age from 25 to 20 years.