KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday unveiled his long-awaited Victory Plan to end Russia’s invasion, rejecting any territorial concessions and urging ramped-up Western backing, including an invitation to join NATO.
After pushing back Russian troops at the start of the invasion in February 2022, Kyiv is now facing mounting pressure to find an exit strategy as its troops suffer battlefield losses and Moscow intensifies its strikes on infrastructure.
Russia has seized around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory since the invasion began, reducing towns and cities to rubble and killing thousands of civilians.
But in his address to lawmakers in Kyiv on Wednesday, the 46-year-old leader ruled out the possibility that Ukraine could cede some territory to secure peace and also dismissed any pause in the conflict. “Russia must lose the war against Ukraine. And this does not mean a freeze (in fighting) and it does not mean any trade in Ukraine’s territory or sovereignty,” Zelensky said, flanked by European Union and Ukrainian flags.
The number one priority in the five-part so-called Victory Plan, the Ukrainian leader said, was closer integration with the US-led NATO defence alliance.
“The first point is an invitation to NATO, now,” Zelensky said, claiming that Moscow had been undermining security in Europe for decades because Kyiv was not a member.
Zelensky also said that his country’s Western allies should lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons so Kyiv can target Russian military sites on occupied Ukrainian territory and also within Russia.
The Kremlin immediately dismissed Zelensky’s roadmap to end the grinding conflict, describing it as “some ephemeral peace plan”.
“The only peace plan there can be is for the Kyiv regime to realise the futility of the policy it is pursuing and understand the need to sober up,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The foreign ministry meanwhile said Zelensky’s plan meant “trouble for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people”.
“He is pushing NATO members towards a direct conflict with our country,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Russia has demanded Kyiv abandon territory it already controls in the east and south of Ukraine as a precondition for peace talks.
The Russian military announced during Zelensky’s address to lawmakers that its forces had captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine, where its forces are steadily advancing.
The ministry said the villages of Nevske and Krasnyi Yar had been “liberated”, publishing a video of destroyed buildings in Nevske with Russian flags flying from two of them.
In his address, Zelensky criticised China, Iran and North Korea for their support for Moscow, renewing accusations that Pyongyang was sending its citizens to work in Russian factories and fight alongside Russian forces.
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