Western Powers and Kyiv Begin Crafting Ukraine's Military Strategy for 2024

Ukrainian and Western high-ranking military representatives have begun discussing a new strategy for the Ukrainian Armed Forces for 2024, reports The Guardian.

The meeting of senior military officials from the USA, the UK, and Ukraine lasted nearly five hours.

The publication describes the negotiations as "unusual", with the Chief Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, arriving with his entire team. The "Military Council" took place in a "secret location" near the Ukrainian-Polish border, nearly 500 kilometers from Kyiv.

The Guardian notes that the discussions involved not only NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, Christopher Cavoli, but also Admiral Tony Radakin, Chief of the UK’s Defence Staff.

The main topics of the five-hour meeting were the combat operations plans of the Ukrainian army for the upcoming winter and for 2024. The parties also explored what to do about the pause in the Ukrainian counteroffensive and how to "refresh" the strategy of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive has been ongoing since the beginning of summer. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that it is proceeding "slower than we would like," attributing this to the cautious nature of the Ukrainian side. Valerii Zaluzhnyi emphasized that Ukraine is making progress every day, even if it is by 500 meters.

At the end of July, Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to Ukraine's counteroffensive as "fruitless." Later, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu pointed out that Kyiv has practically exhausted its military resources.