Zelensky: Coalition of the Willing Meeting Could Be Historic

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, 15 November, that a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, a group of Kyiv's allies, is being prepared. Its aim is to agree a common European position in negotiations on ending the war with Russia. So far the talks have been held in a Ukraine–Russia–US format, and Moscow has not wanted European representatives to take part.

In his nightly video address, Zelensky said the meeting is important and could be historic. According to him, it could define a "100% firm European position for victory".

Five countries for further talks

Europe has chosen five countries — France, Britain, Poland, Germany and Italy — to send representatives to further talks on Ukraine. Zelensky said the current three-way format of Ukraine, the US and Russia must become not only a four-way one, but also considerably stronger.

A meeting of the Ramstein group is also planned for next week. The group brings together countries that support Ukraine's defence. Zelensky hopes the meeting will be productive and send Russia a strong signal that Ukraine will not be left without support.

Attacks on energy before winter

Moscow has stepped up attacks on Ukraine ahead of winter, and they continued this week while two days of talks were held in Abu Dhabi. Zelensky explained that Russia's recent strategy has been to pick one region as a particular target and concentrate strikes on electricity networks and substations there for several days.

Since the beginning of September, the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine has suffered the most. The strikes often leave thousands of civilians without electricity as temperatures keep falling.

The US has urged an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, but diplomatic efforts have so far produced no breakthrough.