The rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape has been a source of great discourse in recent times. Ukraine playing witness to yet another concentration of international diplomatic efforts, the newly elected President Volodymyr Zelensky is now pushing to secure support from the Western nations, as attention shifts to the Middle East.
In a move which many observers felt was overdue, the president of Ukraine has sought to make himself visible on the international stage with the intention of raising awareness for his country’s problems and to garner much needed support from the West. At the heart of President Zelensky’s current mission stands the very pressing issue of defending Ukraine’s century-long independence from Russian incursions.
Since taking office in May of this year, Zelensky has had to face down multiple visits by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as well as Russia’s deployment of S-400 missiles in Crimea. The challenge deepened further with the revelation that Russia has been bolstering its military presence along its shared borders with Ukraine. On a diplomatic level, Zelensky is now pushing for the West to play its role in deterring further escalation while pushing Moscow to uphold the 2014 Minsk Agreement.
Naturally, the security of Ukraine depends on more than just rhetoric. In what has been generally welcomed as a positive move, the US sees itself playing a vital role in the process of mediating the situation with both Russia and Ukraine. This was cemented further when US vice-president Mike Pence visited Ukraine in September of 2019, during which he issued a committed statement that the US is standing “shoulder to shoulder” in support of the country.
The wider picture however is not as bleak as many people make it out to be. All sides to the conflict have been increasingly wary of escalating tensions and as a result, both Moscow and Kyiv have been warming to the practice of diplomatic dialogue. This provides a glimmer of hope that Ukraine’s struggle for independence need not come at a heavy cost after all.
President Zelensky’s ongoing efforts to rally Western support is testament enough to his commitment to pushing for non-violent mechanisms to diffuse the situation. With the US firmly behind him and the European Union engaged in the process of promoting stability Bosnia through noninterventionist policies, the future certainly looks bright for Ukraine.