The Lawfare Podcast Lawfare Archive: Zelensky’s Victory Plan, with Anastasiia Lapatina and Eric Ciaramella
Nov 28, 2025
Anastasiia Lapatina, a Lawfare Ukraine Fellow with deep insights into wartime politics, joins Eric Ciaramella, a policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment, to discuss Zelensky’s ambitious five-point victory plan. They dissect Ukraine's call for NATO membership and the need for long-range weapons without restrictions. The conversation also explores Kyiv's frustration with Western allies, the mixed domestic response to the plan, and the potential implications of a possible Trump presidency on U.S.-Ukraine relations.
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Zelensky’s Five-Point Victory Pitch
- Zelensky presented a five-point "victory plan" to domestic and international audiences, blending long-standing demands with new proposals.
- The plan emphasizes NATO invitation, more weapons, fewer restrictions, long-range strikes, deterrence, resource deals, and troop-role proposals.
Classified Annexes Are Technical, Not Radical
- The sealed annexes likely contain technical elaborations, not wholly different strategies.
- Eric Ciaramella expects military and intelligence details rather than a secret alternate plan.
Familiar Demands, New Framing And Asks
- Several elements in the plan were familiar but presented with renewed urgency and new framing.
- Novel asks include hosting a non-nuclear deterrent and replacing some U.S. troops with Ukrainian units.