Estonian MEP: the end of the war may be closer than we think

If the plan put forward by Zelenskyy is adopted, there is a good chance that the war will end in the near future with Russia obliged to seek peace, writes Kalev Stoicescu, chairman of the National Defence Committee of the Estonian Parliament.

President Volodymyr Zelensky is on a visit to the US to unveil Ukraine's roadmap for victory, which he says will deliver rapid results in a matter of months if the West, under US leadership, makes and implements swiftly key decisions. In the military field, of course. He announced that the end of the war is closer than we think.

That may indeed be the case, in one way or another. Ukraine is tirelessly and justifiably seeking permission to attack objects deep inside Russian territory with the means provided by the US. It needs to receive the necessary quantities of munitions to rapidly and comprehensively undermine Russia's potential for aggression with successive and large-scale attack waves, not one object now and the next in a few weeks' time.

Unless these decisions are taken, talk of a Ukrainian victory or chances of victory will be of increasingly dubious value. All the more so as Russia prepares to almost completely destroy Ukraine's energy system over the coming winter - apparently crippling almost the entire country, including its military defences. Ukraine must therefore be given more missile and drone defence resources. There is also the (rather theoretical) possibility that NATO will take over this task in some regions of Ukraine - but this would of course mean direct intervention by the Alliance in the conflict.

If the plan put forward by the president of Ukraine is accepted in principle, if not literally, as I hope it will be, there is a good chance of ending the war in the short term by forcing Russia to seek peace. Ukraine's position and prospects would be considerably stronger. This is a victory plan for Ukraine, not a peace plan. It is important to bear in mind that a victory plan can lead to a (just) peace, but under the current circumstances a peace plan will certainly not lead to victory.