U-turn. Arestovich assessed the statements from the President’s Office about being ready to end the war by the end of the year

Former adviser to the Office of the President, Oleksiy Arestovych, has drawn attention to recent statements by Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian authorities about their readiness to end the war by the end of the year, without reclaiming the 1991 borders. They also want to see Russia at the second “peace summit.”

Arestovych made these remarks on his YouTube channel.

According to Arestovych, this is a sensational 180-degree turn by the Ukrainian authorities. However, it is barely discussed in the Ukrainian media landscape. He attributes this to the fact that this shift does not fit into the narrative prevalent in Ukrainian media and social platforms.

“What is the agenda of Ukrainian media? First, Russians are dying in droves. Second, Ukraine can win if the West provides proper support. Third, branding traitors. Fourth, celebrity gossip, like a cat giving birth to kittens. And then Zelensky comes out and says there will be peace. It just doesn’t fit the templates,” Arestovych says.

He argues that the authorities themselves created this narrative with expectations of victory and returning to the 1991 borders, but now they are suddenly, without prior preparation, talking about intending to make peace and end the war. This, according to Arestovych, could cause a “mind explosion” among people.

“Zelensky says in Brussels that we will make peace—too many losses. I can imagine what is going on in the mind of the average citizen. We have just been telling them that we won’t talk about our losses, but they are ten times less than the Russians’. Russians are dying in droves. For two and a half years, we have been saying that we will fight until the 1991 borders, we will defeat the enemy, and so on. And now suddenly it turns out that we have big losses and that we will now make peace. How is that? The train of public opinion is racing full speed ahead, 120 cars at 120 km/h, and no one can stop it, with a braking distance of 80 km. And suddenly the conductor says, wait a second, we are now heading in a completely different direction. We will have a peace proposal by the end of the year, and of course, we need to end the war. And this is done without any prior preparation, without gradually working with public opinion to prepare it for changes,” Arestovych explains.

Previously, Volodymyr Zelensky outlined the conditions under which Ukraine is ready to end the war. These include preserving the country, joining NATO and achieving “satisfaction.”