The kernel of the long-awaited ¡°victory plan¡± for Ukraine that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced this fall goes something like this: If you give me what I¡¯ve been asking for ¡ª membership in NATO and permission to fire Western missiles deep into Russian territory ¡ª I could end the war by next year.
The demands are not in themselves new. The urgency is in the timing: The American election, and what President Joe Biden does before he leaves office, will have serious consequences for the trajectory of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Actual membership in NATO is not in the cards for Ukraine until the war is over. The North Atlantic Alliance has already declared that Ukraine is on an ¡°irreversible¡± path to membership, but that is as far as it is likely to go for now. Firing NATO missiles deep into Russia, however, is something a growing number of members have signaled they would allow.
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