Ukraine clearly understands that the war will end with negotiations. For this purpose, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula was prepared and is being promoted, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksandr Lytvynenko has said in a video address to the participants of the Baltic Sea Region Forum.

"Our position is very simple and convincing. It will be supported by the participants of the Peace Summit in Switzerland in June 2024. This is a real diplomatic track that has every chance of helping to achieve a just peace. But we need not a truce for two years, but a sustainable peace for decades that would make the development of Ukraine possible. And this is a matter of security guarantees," he said.

"Ukraine needs guarantees, and the Finnish example clearly demonstrates that today in Europe there is only one real guarantee – membership in NATO. That is why we hope to receive an invitation to the Alliance at the Washington NATO summit," the NSDC Secretary said.

Lytvynenko described the situation at the front as "extremely difficult, but far from catastrophic."

"Our troops continue heavy, grueling battles for small villages and towns in Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions. But it's much worse that the Russians are directing their air forces against critical infrastructure facilities that support large industrial cities in the East and South of Ukraine," he said.

"Putin is implementing his threat of creating a gray zone. At the same time, it is not only the military who die and suffer, but children, women and the elderly. The Russians are using a strategy tested in Syria to provoke a migration crisis. This can be stopped. But Ukraine needs modern weapons, a lot of weapons. First of all, air defense and ammunition," Lytvynenko said.