International support plays a crucial role in preserving Ukrainian statehood and strengthening the defensive capabilities of potential allies. One of the key tasks of Ukrainian diplomacy remains securing active international assistance and shaping future strategic alliances.
Source: OBOZREVATEL
The outcome of our resistance to russia will determine not only Ukraine’s security situation but also influence the formation of a new global order architecture. This opinion was expressed by former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, according to media reports.
“Ukraine must primarily rethink its own model of cooperation with partners, focusing not only on expecting support but also on actively shaping the vision of its future within upcoming security alliances. It is precisely due to fundamental changes in the nature of war that such alliances are being formed right now,” the ambassador noted.
According to Zaluzhnyi, forming such alliances without Ukraine today is impossible. They are critically necessary for our country’s survival now and security in the future.
His personal experience in building such relations shows significant differences between Ukraine and Western partners not only in decision-making processes but also in understanding the necessity of certain actions, which often require additional time and resources. Many of Ukraine’s initiatives in forming requests had a political-emotional basis due to reactions to new russian strikes depending on the level of international political activity. Such an approach not only reduces the consistency and systematic nature of requests but often does not align with the procedural logic that underpins Western political systems.
“For Ukraine to use time effectively and achieve maximum impact in the future, it is necessary to implement a new systematic policy for forming and advancing requests. These requests must go beyond today’s or yesterday’s needs and, most importantly, take into account trends in the development of the battlefield situation,” emphasized the former Commander-in-Chief.
He believes that one effective way to form a strategic support policy for Ukraine could be a systematic expert-analytical campaign aimed at key government institutions, political elites, expert communities, and the public in partner countries, primarily the United States. The goal of such an initiative is to consistently build clear, substantive positions that could later form the basis of Western partners’ own political vision and promote their support of Ukraine’s needs.
One of the top priorities should be convincing that refusing to support Ukraine creates the greatest risks to preserving the US’s role as a global security guarantor. It is important to show that Ukraine’s victory is not only a matter of justice but also a key factor in maintaining global stability and affirming US leadership. This will help minimize the impact of political fluctuations in the West and lay the foundation for long-term cooperation, especially in defense.
At the same time, it is important to draw Washington’s attention to the fact that rapid technological development is radically changing the nature of armed conflict. Therefore, the US should be involved not only in supplying weapons to Ukraine but also in modernizing already provided systems and developing new weapon models, taking into account Ukrainian combat experience.
A key task is the integration of the US into the process of forming future approaches to war to prevent technological lag. For this purpose, it is worth creating joint scientific or analytical centers combining Ukrainian and American specialists to provide independent assessments of events, trends, and threats.
“An interesting example of effective use of various tools is Israel’s practice in communicating with the US. Such actions eventually led to the official recognition of Israel as a ‘major non-NATO ally’ by the US in 1989, which legally secured preferential conditions for defense cooperation,” emphasized the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK.
As a result, Israel managed to obtain a full-fledged support system based not on declarative promises but on a clearly structured model with established procedures. The US is obliged to respond to such requests within the framework of alliance cooperation, which ensured Israel’s status as one of the main recipients of military aid worldwide.
Zaluzhnyi is convinced that geopolitical instability caused, among other things, by the war in Ukraine has brought new threats but also opened a historic opportunity for our country. Today, the Ukrainian soldier is not only defending statehood but also fighting for the country’s right to geopolitical agency. It is now being decided whether Ukraine will be able to realize this opportunity.
“Obviously, these two interdependent processes are impossible today without strong allies. The formation of such a circle of allies is impossible without the US for various reasons. The US is uniquely capable not only of providing the necessary support to Ukraine and forming a new democratic alliance but also of preserving its leadership role in the global security system through certain steps,” concluded the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK.