The United States and Germany want to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to start negotiations with Russia, military observer Julian Repke wrote in an article for Bild on Friday, November 24, citing a single source in German government circles, DW reports.
According to the plan of the United States and Germany, the largest donors of military aid to Ukraine, Kyiv should approach the talks in a "strategically advantageous negotiating position" to discuss "sovereignty and territorial integrity" with the Kremlin, Bild claims.
Berlin and Washington do not intend to directly convince Zelenskyy of the need for negotiations, but plan to actually force the Ukrainian president to do so, using the supply of weapons as leverage, Bild claims.
According to the newspaper, the allies intend to supply Kyiv with weapons in quantities that will allow the Ukrainian army to hold the current front, but not to liberate the Russian-occupied territories.
"Zelensky must realize that this cannot go on. Without any request from the outside. He must address his people of his own free will and explain that negotiations are necessary," a German government source told Bild.
According to the source, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius opposes such tactics and supports the supply of weapons, but "his hands are tied."
Roderich Kiesewetter, a defense expert with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), shares the same opinion, the newspaper says.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that the Federal Chancellor's office does not believe in Ukraine's victory and does not want it at all. The arms package that Pistorius brought to Ukraine is not an expression of the goal 'Ukraine must win'. Rather, it symbolizes the fact that there is so little support that Ukraine is being pushed into negotiations," he told Bild.
According to Bild's source, Germany and the United States also allegedly have a "plan B," which is to freeze the conflict at its current levels.
"What Berlin and Washington want as an alternative to negotiations is a frozen conflict without an agreement between the parties," the source said.
According to him, in this case, the contact line "is strengthened and becomes a new quasi-border between Ukraine and Russia."
"It's like Minsk, but without Minsk," the source said, referring to the 2014 peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Minsk.
However, a German government spokesperson told Bild that "Germany is firmly on the side of Ukraine."
"The Federal Government is clear: Ukraine must define military and political goals in its defense struggle against Russian aggression. We will support Ukraine as long as necessary to defend it against Russian aggression," the government told Bild.
"This is about protecting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and thus its survival. We are in constant and close contact with our international partners," the Cabinet representative added.
Background. In early November, NBC reported, citing two senior U.S. officials, that U.S. and European Union officials had begun discussions with the Ukrainian government that could include possible peace talks with Russia to end the war.