Leaders | Zelensky in Washington

The war is going badly. Ukraine and its allies must change course

Time for credible war aims—and NATO membership

Close-up black and white photograph of Volodymyr Zelensky
image: Economist/Getty Images

IF UKRAINE AND its Western backers are to win, they must first have the courage to admit that they are losing. In the past two years Russia and Ukraine have fought a costly war of attrition. That is unsustainable. When Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to America to see President Joe Biden this week, he brought a “plan for victory”, expected to contain a fresh call for arms and money. In fact, Ukraine needs something far more ambitious: an urgent change of course.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Crunch time”

From the September 28th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Neural connection, with an electric bolt travellingacross, trailing a little fruit fly.

A map of a fruit fly’s brain could help us understand our own

A miracle of complexity, powered by rotting fruit

The illustration depicts a large judge's gavel about to hit the Google logo

Dismantling Google is a terrible idea

Despite its appeal as a political rallying cry


Shigeru Ishiba holds a press conference  in Tokyo, Japan on September 27th 2024

Socially liberal and strong on defence, Japan’s new premier shows promise

But he must ditch his more eccentric ideas if he is to control his party


Don’t celebrate China’s stimulus just yet

It will take more than a spectacular stockmarket rally to revive the economy

The year that shattered the Middle East

Kill or be killed is the region’s new logic. Deterrence and diplomacy would be better

YouTube’s do-it-yourself brigade is taking on Netflix and Disney

Legions of self-taught film-makers are coming for the television industry