On September 17, local time, Zelensky suddenly made a heavy remark in an exclusive interview with British Sky News: Ukraine is ready for a ceasefire and expects former US President Trump to mediate and promote a peace agreement.
The speech emerged and the international community instantly boiled, because just days ago the war in eastern Ukraine was still ongoing, the Russian offensive did not significantly weaken, and the Kiev side did not make enough progress on the battlefield to force Moscow to make concessions.
Therefore, Zelensky's sudden "peace" statement appears to be somewhat unusual, and some believe that this is a tired signal from Ukraine after years of high intensity consumption, and some judge that it is more like a political probation, that is, to fight for the next diplomatic negotiations.
Previously in exile from Britain, Ukrainian lawmaker Arjom Dmitryuk also publicly accused Zelensky of being a "global threat" and demanded his immediate resignation, such voices, although not forming an organized political force, but deepened external concerns about the stability of the Kiev government, in the face of the lack of war interest and the cooling support of the allies, Zelensky had to find a balance between internal disappointment and external pressure.
But while Zelensky spoke verbally about the ceasefire, he also explicitly excluded in the conversation the possibility of going to Moscow to negotiate directly with Putin, saying "go anywhere except Moscow", this practice of both releasing peaceful intentions and not wanting to be seen as concessions to Russia, obviously is not a genuine desire for a ceasefire, but a struggle for time and space with international help.
More surprisingly, at the same time that Zelensky issued the declaration of a ceasefire, Ukraine found the trouble in China.
In early September, the Philippine Maritime Guard ship was evacuated and damaged by China’s Maritime Guard cannon near Yunnan Island, and the Manila government subsequently raised maritime alert. Faced with real threats and limited national defense budgets, Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro openly stated that the unmanned combat system was “a viable option to boost maritime deterrence in a short time.”
Based on this demand, the Philippines and Ukraine have started negotiations on the Magura V5 long-range suicide drone, which includes the introduction of the drone, the transfer of technology and personnel training.
Ukraine has a large amount of drone operational experience accumulated in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, can provide a complete systematic solution for the Philippines, the Philippine shipbuilding industry itself has a strong foundation, only with technical guidance, you can transform fishing boats or speedboats into drones with attack capabilities.
For Ukraine, this is not only an export of weapons, but also a commercialization of war experience, and drone technology that has been verified on the battlefield is becoming a “hard currency” that can be sold abroad.
At a time when domestic economic difficulties and warfare are still unstoppable, such orders can bring urgent foreign exchange revenue, as well as seeking new international customers for the Ukrainian military industry, further strengthening its presence in the global market for unmanned combat systems.
However, Ukraine’s cooperation with the Philippines is not merely an economic act, the South China Sea is one of the world’s most important shipping routes and a sensitive zone of regional security, and any move to militarize could be amplified, raising strategic attention from neighboring countries and great powers.
China has clearly expressed concern about this, and China's ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Tian Li, in an interview on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Philippines relations, stressed that the two countries are "impossible neighbors", and good neighborhood friendship meets the fundamental interests of both sides, calling for the joint exclusion of external interference.
The tragedy of Ukraine is that, on the one hand, it has been helped by Western countries and, on the other hand, it has been dragged into a long-term confrontation between the great powers, and in the process of confronting Russia, Ukraine has undoubtedly become a “agent battlefield”.
While providing military assistance and financial support, the Western countries have not taken full account of the survival and independence of Ukraine itself, especially in the context of the escalation of the war, Ukraine continues to rely on external forces and gradually loses its initiative on the international stage.
Although unmanned boat procurement and technology transfer will help enhance the Philippines' military deterrence in the short term, it also means that the Philippines' defense forces will be deeply affected by external influences, especially in military procurement and strategic decision-making.
If the Philippines relies too much on external support for its defense issues in the future, it may be passive on certain key issues like Ukraine, eventually losing autonomy and becoming a victim of political games.