Follow us on social

||

Diplomacy Watch: Zelensky's lonely calls for 10 point peace plan

At Davos, he dismissed the idea of a ceasefire, calling Putin a 'predator...not satisfied with frozen products'

Reporting | QiOSK

In a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a “just and stable” peace, but maintained that a ceasefire to freeze the conflict with Russia at current lines remained unacceptable.

“I remind you that after 2014, there were attempts to freeze the war in Donbas. There were very influential guarantors of that process,” Zelensky said. “But Putin is a predator who is not satisfied with frozen products.”

Despite a recent report from the New York Times suggesting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been quietly signaling an openness to a ceasefire, Zelensky argued that he “embodies war.”

“We all know that he is the sole reason why various wars and conflicts persist, and why all attempts to restore peace have failed,” the Ukrainian president said. “And he will not change.”

Instead, Zelensky remains committed to his vision of a 10-point peace formula, which calls for, among other stipulations, the withdrawal of Russian troops from all Ukrainian territory and the prosecution of Russian officials for war crimes.

“[T]hose demands are considered, by analysts and even politicians backing the proposal, to be unreachable given the current balance of forces on the battlefield,” reported the New York Times on Tuesday.

Kyiv continues to try to persuade the international community to sign onto its peace plan. According to Zelensky, representatives from over 80 countries and international institutions have met in a series of meetings since last summer to discuss the Ukrainian peace formula. This week, Switzerland agreed to host the next round of talks, which Zelensky said will include world leaders for the first time.

Zelensky also said on Monday that it was important to him that representatives from China and the Global South be present at the summit. "We would very much like China to be involved in our [peace] formula, as well as in the summit," he said, according to Reuters. "But not everything depends on our wishes."

Indeed, on Wednesday Politico reported that officials from Beijing had given Ukraine the cold shoulder at Davos.

“China’s decision not to meet with Ukrainians appeared intentional and not the result of a scheduling problem,” reads the report. “One senior U.S. official said Beijing rejected Kyiv’s request for a meeting at some point during their mutual Swiss visits. Another senior U.S. official said China has refused any gatherings after Russia urged it to cease diplomatic encounters with Ukraine.”

A Ukrainian official told Politico that the characterization was not accurate and that the Ukrainian delegation had never requested a meeting with their Chinese counterparts.

In other diplomatic news related to the war in Ukraine:

— For the first time since Congress returned earlier this month, there appears to be some movement on President Joe Biden’s national security supplemental package, which includes roughly $60 billion in aid for Ukraine. Biden met with four congressional leaders — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y) — to discuss the supplemental at the White House on Wednesday.

Following the meeting, McConnell said he expected to hold a vote on the legislation next week, and Schumer added, “For the first time, I believe the odds are a little better than 50% that we can get something done. But certainly it's not a done deal yet.”

Following the meeting, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) led 17 GOP Senators in calling for a meeting next week to discuss the Republican conference’s position on Ukraine aid.

The trickier situation will likely be in the House, where Johnson said that he supports aid to Kyiv but members of his caucus “need the questions answered about the strategy, about the endgame and about the accountability for the precious treasure of the American people,” before agreeing to another tranche of funding.

— Ukraine and the United Kingdom announced both a new bilateral security agreement and that London would provide Kyiv with another $3 billion in military aid.

“It’s important that Russia sees that we are not moving away, that we will be with Ukraine, not just today, not just tomorrow, but for the long term,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.

“Support for Ukraine has emerged as a central thrust of London’s foreign policy since Britain left the European Union — and it has provided a means for successive Conservative prime ministers to divert attention from internal political strife,” according to The Washington Post. “It has also provided a way for London to distinguish itself from European governments, some of whom have wavered in their military assistance to Ukraine, or, as in the cases of Hungary and Slovakia, rejected it outright.”

— During a meeting in Brussels this week, top NATO leadership is expected to make plans for the biggest military exercises in Europe since the Cold War, according to the Associated Press. In the face of Russian aggression, “the wargames are meant as a fresh show of strength from NATO and its commitment to defend all allied nations from attack,” reports the AP.

U.S. State Department News:

During a press briefing on Wednesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller did not receive any questions about the war in Ukraine.


Diplomacy Watch: A peace summit without Russia
Diplomacy Watch: Ukraine aid officially runs out
Reporting | QiOSK
US Marines
Top image credit: U.S. Marines with Force Reconnaissance Platoon, Maritime Raid Force, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, prepare to clear a room during a limited scale raid exercise at Sam Hill Airfield, Queensland, Australia, June 21, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alora Finigan)

Cartels are bad but they're not 'terrorists.' This is mission creep.

Military Industrial Complex

There is a dangerous pattern on display by the Trump administration. The president and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth seem to hold the threat and use of military force as their go-to method of solving America’s problems and asserting state power.

The president’s reported authorization for the Pentagon to use U.S. military warfighting capacity to combat drug cartels — a domain that should remain within the realm of law enforcement — represents a significant escalation. This presents a concerning evolution and has serious implications for civil liberties — especially given the administration’s parallel moves with the deployment of troops to the southern border, the use of federal forces to quell protests in California, and the recent deployment of armed National Guard to the streets of our nation’s capital.

keep readingShow less
Howard Lutnick
Top photo credit: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on CNBC, 8/26/25 (CNBC screengrab)

Is nationalizing the defense industry such a bad idea?

Military Industrial Complex

The U.S. arms industry is highly consolidated, specialized, and dependent on government contracts. Indeed, the largest U.S. military contractors are already effectively extensions of the state — and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is right to point that out.

His suggestion in a recent media appearance to partially nationalize the likes of Lockheed Martin is hardly novel. The economist John Kenneth Galbraith argued for the nationalization of the largest military contractors in 1969. More recently, various academics and policy analysts have advocated for partial or full nationalization of military firms in publications including The Nation, The American Conservative, The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), and The Seattle Journal for Social Justice.

keep readingShow less
Modi Trump
Top image credit: White House, February 2025

Trump's India problem could become a Global South crisis

Asia-Pacific

As President Trump’s second term kicked off, all signs pointed to a continued upswing in U.S.-India relations. At a White House press conference in February, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of his vision to “Make India Great Again” and how the United States under Trump would play a central role. “When it’s MAGA plus MIGA, it becomes a mega partnership for prosperity,” Modi said.

During Trump’s first term, the two populist leaders hosted rallies for each other in their respective countries and cultivated close personal ties. Aside from the Trump-Modi bromance, U.S.-Indian relations have been on a positive trajectory for over two decades, driven in part by mutual suspicion of China. But six months into his second term, Trump has taken several actions that have led to a dramatic downturn in U.S.-India relations, with India-China relations suddenly on the rise.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.