Kyiv's diplomacy in mid-September 2024: draft evasion, peace plans, NATO weapons
Reports in the days before 18 September 2024 showed Ukraine pressing allies on conscription, rejecting a Brazilian–Chinese proposal and facing a Russian warning.
What was Kyiv dealing with on the diplomatic front on 18 September 2024? Reports from the preceding days point to three strands: manpower, peace proposals and the use of Western weapons.
Draft evasion and Ukrainian men abroad
On 14 September 2024, after a meeting in Kyiv, the foreign ministers of Poland and Ukraine called for an end to social benefits for Ukrainian men in Poland. They also urged programmes in the European Union to return such men to Ukraine, with the aim of curbing draft evasion.
A rejected peace initiative
On 12 September 2024, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly denounced a Brazilian–Chinese peace initiative. He said both countries were effectively siding with Russia, because the approach allowed the Russian army to hold Ukrainian territory as a way to "de-escalate" the war, rather than helping Ukraine resist the invasion.
Moscow's warning on NATO weapons
The same day, Russian president Vladimir Putin warned that Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory with NATO weapons would amount to NATO formally entering the war against Russia. He argued that NATO personnel programme these weapons, which he called a "direct confrontation".
Taken together, the reports from 12 and 14 September 2024 show Kyiv seeking to keep its allies focused on its own priorities, while Moscow raised the stakes over Western-supplied arms.
