Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that the decisive phase of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shifted from land and sea to the air, making the battle in the sky the determining factor of the war - at a moment Russia has begun to experience a fuel shortage crisis in many locales due to vital energy infrastructure having been struck again and again by inbound suicide drones.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Zelensky emphasized that the question of seizing territory now holds far less significance because Ukraine has entered the aerial sphere and has unleashed serious damage on Russian territory. The Kremlin has all the while maintained that its forces are advancing in the east, but Zelensky is suggesting this doesn't matter anymore as Ukraine has pivoted to asymmetric warfare.
"Today I believe victory in this war belongs to whoever is smarter. If you stop the enemy on the battlefield, if you stop the war on land, and if you deny him dominance at sea – as we did with our naval drones, driving the Russian fleet away – then the next battlefield becomes the sky," he said in the FT interview, published Monday.
Zelensky described that "it matters far less whose territory is larger" and that "we have moved into the air domain. And in the air, we are already competitive." Russia is in the meantime close to achieving its goal of pacifying the four eastern annexed territories.
The remarks are clearly timed to appeal to Ukraine's 'successes' against Russia during the same week the major annual NATO summit kicks off in Turkey, with President Trump and other world leaders expected.
Zelensky, who will also be on the ground in Ankara, further told FT:
"If our partners do not abandon Ukraine financially, if our soldiers continue holding the front, if every kilometer of Russian advance continues to cost them tens of thousands – and sometimes hundreds of thousands – of personnel, then the decisive struggle will take place in the skies.
Because the skies will determine the outcome of this war."
President Trump has meanwhile newly claimed that that the end of the Ukraine war is closer than most people think. However, the two sides are not even close to getting representatives at the same table.
The president was questioned Monday on why Russia's Putin doesn't feel more pressure when the two talk, to which Trump replied: "I think he really feels pressure... he wants to put an end to this, and Ukraine wants to put an end to this. We are negotiating and we'll see if we can put an end to it."
Another record strike by Ukraine's long-range drone arsenal:
"I think we are much closer than people think," Trump continued. "President Putin wants this to end. I’ll tell you that very firmly. And President Zelensky really wants this to end now." He added: "We will succeed" - while affirming that this will be high on the agenda at the NATO summit.
The White House has been signaling a possible pivot back to a head-on diplomatic push to find an end to the conflict in Ukraine, which is now it its fifth year. The Iran ceasefire in the meantime appears to be holding, for now.