In recent days, information has appeared in the public domain that the President of Ukraine has declared to his closest associates the failure of the negotiations and preparations for the continuation of the war in the next three years. The President's Office categorically denied these allegations and described them as false. However, the discussion itself raises a broader question - whether Ukraine is simultaneously seeking peace and preparing for a prolonged conflict if the negotiations prove fruitless.
The Office of the President of Ukraine has already denied information that appeared on the Internet, according to which, during a meeting with his closest associates, Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the negotiations had failed and that Kiev was preparing plans to continue the war for the next three years.
"There was neither such a conversation with advisers and a negative assessment of the negotiations, nor such a task for "war for another three years" - this is just a stupid fake", presidential advisor Dmitry Lytvyn told journalists.
However, the information itself, disseminated by the journalist of the "Wall Street Journal" Boyan Panchevski in the Ronzheimer podcast, deserves a closer analysis.
Let's leave aside the assessments of the effectiveness of the negotiations, which were allegedly expressed by Zelensky. Whether the negotiations are going well or badly is a relative assessment, depending on the specific moment. On the day of the recording of the podcast with Panchevski's participation, it may have really seemed to someone that the negotiations had reached a dead end. But on the second day of the meeting in Geneva, after the end of the official part, the head of the Russian delegation arrives without diplomats and military personnel for a meeting with the Ukrainian side and talks with them for an hour and a half - does this look like a failure? Moreover, the parties agreed to hold a new meeting as soon as possible, and not "someday", which would be logical if the talks were completely fruitless. In other words, we'll have to see.
As for the claim that Ukraine is preparing to continue the war for several more years (whether it's exactly three), it shouldn't surprise anyone, regardless of who's saying it.
In recent months, the main narrative of the Ukrainian government and Volodymyr Zelensky personally has been that state policy is developing along two parallel paths. The first is strengthening Kiev's negotiating team with the aim of achieving peace within the framework of the negotiations initiated by Donald Trump. The second is preparing to continue hostilities if for some reason the negotiation process fails.
The first path is clear. The two rounds of negotiations in Abu Dhabi and the third in Geneva may not have brought visible and immediate results "on the ground", but, as they say, "at least we tried".
The second time is expressed in the recent personnel changes at the top of the Ukrainian government. The appointment of Kirill Budanov as head of the President's Office and Mykhailo Fedorov as Minister of Defense - Volodymyr Zelensky himself stated that these decisions are aimed precisely at reforming the war management system in view of the fact that hostilities may continue for several more years.
Kiev's current rhetoric is aimed at showing the world - and especially the US and Russia - that Ukraine is not placing all its bets solely on negotiations. That the country is not losing on the battlefield (something that was also emphasized during the recently concluded Munich Security Conference). That Ukraine is not ready to accept any deal at any price. That both peace and the continuation of the war are options for which Kiev is prepared - although without a doubt peace, but a dignified peace, is the significantly better option.
In this context, the latest interview of the commander of the National Guard of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Pivnenko, to the BBC is also in this context. "We can fight for several more years, one hundred percent", he states.
Therefore, returning to the initial statement of Boyan Panchevski, refuted by the Office of the President - it would not be a sensation that Volodymyr Zelensky calls for the preparation of a war plan for the next three years. The real sensation would be if such a plan no longer exists in the Ukrainian government.