President Zelenskyy of Ukraine recently announced a “Victory Plan” concerning the country’s ongoing war with Russia. Stressing the need for allies to provide Kyiv with all the necessary tools, the plan outlines ambitions to end the conflict on favourable terms as early as next year.

At first glance, it appears that the Russian economy has largely adapted to the shifts and sanctions that occurred following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Despite this, new developments suggest that the state may not be able to maintain this new model in the mid to long term.

In October 2022, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, announced a “peace formula” to overcome the Russian threat during a meeting of the G7. Since then, it has become the guiding principle in Ukraine’s international diplomacy and efforts to end Russia’s aggression once and for all.

As the war continues in Ukraine, claiming lives, destroying infrastructure and undermining the economy, the Ukrainian authorities and people are united by a common desire to stop Russian aggression, the associated daily horrors and suffering as soon as possible. In order to make its own position clear before the international community and within the framework of demonstrating readiness for a peace process, the Ukrainian side has submitted a basic set of principles and approaches which has formed the basis of a “peace formula” – or “Zelenskyy Formula” as it is often called.

During the upcoming Vilnius summit, NATO will need to form a clear and consistent position and specify its own understanding of how the war will end. The Ukrainian side expects NATO to declare the steps necessary to guarantee its security and achieve the complete restoration of control over all its territories, ultimately leading to Ukraine’s membership in the Alliance.

With the tensions between Ukrainian institutions growing, how far is President Zelenskyy willing to go in order to avoid an unfolding constitutional crisis?

Restoring full membership of the Russian delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, one of Europe's key diplomatic platforms, is contradictory to the Council’s democratic traditions.

Ukraine’s oligarchs have established themselves as an independent component of the socio-political and economic system, whose lack of interests has become impossible in current times. The challenge for Volodymyr Zelesnkyy is how to confront the influence of the oligarchs. Current developments suggest three scenarios between the oligarchs, the new political elite, and civil society.
The collapse of the Soviet Union opened up opportunities for Ukraine to implement economic reform, democratise state institutions and shape the country around liberal values. The experience of post-war western democracies appeared as successful cases for Ukraine since the collapse of the USSR.