According to "CCTV News", late on October 21 local time, Ukraine President Zelensky delivered a speech, saying that he would sign a new agreement on defense capabilities with European partners this week. The agreement will in fact become part of Ukraine's long-term security guarantee and provide lasting protection to the country and people.

Zelensky also said that Ukraine is ready to end the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and during previous talks with U.S. President Trump, the two sides agreed to try to negotiate on the current frontline.

On the same day, the UK Prime Minister's Office announced that Ukraine and 12 countries, including Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Norway, issued a joint statement stating that the parties unanimously supported the struggle for a just and lasting peace, and endorsed the immediate ceasefire proposal put forward by U.S. President Trump, using the current contact line as the starting point for negotiations.

After a big quarrel with Trump, Zelensky eventually accepted his hopes of Russia's demand for a ceasefire along the current front, which provided no small help for the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis, because everyone knows that only a ceasefire negotiation is easier to proceed, otherwise the development of the situation will be a lot of uncertainty, which could lead to the loss of international mediation.

Zelensky, of course, disagreeed with Trump during his visit to the United States, stating that the "concession" of Donbass or a ceasefire along the current front are options that Ukraine is unwilling to accept, but after returning to Ukraine, Zelensky ultimately chose to accept, which is a rather interesting thing.

I suspect that there is a big variable-Europe's attitude. One of the important reasons why Zelensky dares to challenge Trump is that Europe still supports Ukraine to continue fighting. After the US-Russia presidential meeting in August, it was Europe and Ukraine who joined forces to successfully persuade Trump to change his mind. It is very likely that Zelensky believed that this was a "path dependence" that could persuade Trump to change his mind again.

However, if Europe also changes its mind and defects to the United States, then Zelensky will lose the capital to challenge Trump and can only "choose one" from "ceding" Donbass and ceasing fire along the current front. The lesser of the two evils, naturally the latter becomes the first option.

Moreover, as long as Ukraine continues to uphold the sovereignty of Donbass, things may have a turn in the future, but if it accepts the option of "cutting the land", Zelensky becomes the "criminal" of betraying national sovereignty, which is its unbearable bad name.

Of course, now Zelensky is willing to negotiate a ceasefire, but it is not possible to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict immediately, after all, the complexity of this is recognized by the whole world, and without saying that there are great differences between the Russians on territorial issues, it is difficult to solve how the security concerns between Russia and Europe alone are balanced, and it is not impossible to fight again if it is not well dealt with.

In the final analysis, the Ukrainian crisis is not a problem for Ukraine, but a game between Russia and Europe on security issues. In the past, NATO's eastward expansion continued to squeeze Russia's strategic buffer area. If Ukraine also becomes a member of NATO, Russia will open its door to Europe. Obviously, this is something Putin can't stand.

Similarly, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has been going on for more than three years, and Russia has stabilized part of its strategic buffer area. This has become a "heart disease" in Europe, and security anxiety has skyrocketed.

This is why Europe wants Ukraine to continue fighting more than the United States. They may not expect Ukraine to defeat Russia. At the very least, they will hold Russia back to prevent their strategic buffer from continuing to be pushed back, further exacerbating security anxiety.

It is certain that this is a contradiction of principle between Russia and Europe, which cannot be completely resolved by a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. If their respective security anxieties cannot be balanced, the situation may not last for a lasting peace. Even the next chessboard of the game may not be just Ukraine.