President Volodimir Zelensky On Wednesday, he revealed his long-awaited “victory plan”, calling on his allies to take urgent action to support Kiev at a precarious time. War with Russia next year
As Moscow's forces advanced east and The Dark Winter of Power Outages Tears, he told parliament, he had five main points in his plan that his allies had in hand, now including an unconditional invitation to join NATO and arms support.
In return, he offered a Western role in developing Ukraine's natural mineral resources and said Ukrainian troops could bolster NATO security and replace parts of it. US Forces in Europe.
“Together with our partners, we must change the situation so that the war ends. Whatever Putin wants. We must all change the situation so that Russia is forced into peace,” he told lawmakers and senior officials.
Zelensky, who has tirelessly advocated a “just” end to the war, said his plan needed to force the Kremlin to negotiate in good faith, although he acknowledged in his speech that some allies view the war's end game differently.
“We hear the word 'negotiation' and the word 'fairness' less frequently from partners. Ukraine is open to diplomacy, but honest (diplomacy),” he said.
His plan proposed establishing a “comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrence package” inside Ukraine to protect against Russian threats and destroy its military power. He didn't give details, but said there was a secret addition he couldn't reveal.
The Western role in the plan, he added, is to jointly defend Ukraine's natural mineral resources from Russian aggression and commit to post-war reconstruction.
The plan is a major test of the political will of Kiev's key allies, who have invested billions of dollars in weapons to support Ukraine as they navigate fears of an “escalation” in the war against a country with the world's largest nuclear arsenal. .
NATO said Ukraine would seek membership, but stopped short of issuing invitations.
The Kremlin said it was too early to comment in detail on Zelensky's plans, but that Kiev needed to “be sure” and realize the futility of the policies it was pursuing.
What Zelensky said boosted Russia's war effort Transfer of weapons and personnel to North Korea. Earlier this year, the West and Ukraine claimed that Iran had sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, which Moscow denied.
A call for unity
Outnumbered by Russian forces, the exhausted Ukrainian military has struggled to find ways to stop Moscow's troops from advancing east, taking village after village and threatening the logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
The deep uncertainty arising from a growing power shift in the United States has made the situation more difficult and the November elections may continue Donald TrumpHe is back in the White House, persistently skeptical about aid to Ukraine.
The former Republican president has promised to end the war quickly before taking office if re-elected, an idea that Kiev's supporters fear could involve cutting back on concessions in the name of a quick deal.
Zelensky said it was essential for Kyiv's partners to remain united.
He repeated his appeal months ago for Western support to launch long-range strikes against Russia, citing “a clear list of weapons” and the importance of necessary air defenses and continued operations in Russia, a reference to the surprise incursion. from Kiev. August in the Kursk region of Russia.
“If we start moving forward with this victory plan now, we can end the war next year,” he said.
Zelensky said he will go to a summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday to present his plan.
He has already met with US President Joe Biden in Washington at the end of September. On a subsequent whirlwind tour of Europe, he met with the leaders of Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany and outlined his plans.
The speech was attended by his top military, intelligence and political chiefs, as well as lawmakers, some of whom at times applauded, although he was criticized by some lawmakers.
Oleksiy Honcharenko said the plan seemed “very unrealistic”: “We leave almost everything to our partners. And what do we demand of ourselves?”
Roman Lozinski, a lawmaker from Zelenskiy's party, said it sounded “fantastic” but that previous requests – such as F-16s or Storm Shadow missiles – seemed unrealistic but still produced results.
Zelensky's speech attempted to convince a weary audience that the war could soon end and emphasized the importance of ordinary Ukrainians remaining united as the challenges of war piled up.
“We have achieved and are achieving results in our fight for unity. So please don’t lose unity,” he said.
