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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has unveiled his much-anticipated “victory plan” to end Vladimir Putin’s invasion hours after Russia fired scores of drones into Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky told Ukraine’s parliament that the plan could finish the war – which began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022 – no later than next year.
Mr Zelensky’s plan calls most significantly for the unconditional accession of Ukraine to Nato, the lifting of restrictions on long-range strikes on Russia using Western-supplied weapons, a refusal to trade Ukraine’s territories currently occupied by Russian forces, and the continuation of the Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region of Russia.
“Together with our partners, we must change the circumstances so that the war ends. Regardless of what Putin wants. We must all change the circumstances so that Russia is forced to peace,” Mr Zelensky told Ukrainian MPs as he outlined the plan on Wednesday.
Mr Zelensky, who has unrelentingly called for a “fair” end to the war, says his plan is needed to force the Kremlin to negotiate in good faith, though he appeared to acknowledge in his speech that some allies see the war’s end game differently.
“We hear the word ‘negotiations’ from partners and the word ‘justice’ much less often. Ukraine is open to diplomacy, but honest [diplomacy],” he said.
The plan, which Mr Zelensky discussed with world leaders on a whirlwind tour of Europe and the US in the past weeks, also called for bolstered defence capabilities and a non-nuclear deterrence to Russian aggression.
The Ukrainian leader did not elaborate on what the non-nuclear deterrence would involve, but said there were three secret addendums to the plan that he could only discuss with Ukraine’s allies.
The plan, Mr Zelensky added, also envisaged a Western role in investing in and jointly protecting Ukraine’s natural mineral resources from Russian attacks as well as post-war reconstruction pledges.
The plan is a major test of the political will of Kyiv’s key allies, who have poured in many billions of pounds worth of weapons to support Ukraine, while navigating fears of an “escalation” in a war against a nation with the world’s largest nuclear arsenal. On Wednesday evening, Mr Zelensky was set to speak on the phone with Joe Biden, with the White House due to announce a new security assistance package.
Nato has said Ukraine is heading for membership but has stopped short of issuing an invitation. The alliance’s new chief, Mark Rutte, said that Mr Zelensky’s plan was a strong signal, but that he was not able to support it as a whole as things stand.
Russia’s own war effort has been boosted by what Mr Zelensky said were North Korean transfers of arms and personnel. Earlier this year, the West and Ukraine said Iran had sent Russia close-range ballistic missiles, something Moscow denied. Mr Zelensky called Iran, North Korea and China a “coalition of criminals” for backing Russia. Beijing claims to be neutral over Russia’s invasion, but has held a number of summits with Putin.
The Kremlin told Kyiv to “sober up”, adding that it was too early to comment on the details of the plan – but that the policies Mr Zelensky is pursuing are futile.
Mr Zelensky said he would present the victory plan at an EU summit on Thursday. “We are at war with Russia on the battlefield, in international relations, in the economy, in the information sphere, and in people’s hearts,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russia fired scores of drones at Kyiv and other Ukrainian regions overnight into Wednesday, according to Ukraine’s air force.
Some 136 attack drones were fired at Ukraine, 51 of which were destroyed over 14 regions by Ukraine’s air defence and 20 of which were still in Ukrainian skies. The remaining 60 were unaccounted for.
The drones set off a “large-scale fire” in the Ternopil region, but no casualties were reported, according to the region’s military administration.
Later on Wednesday, the Russian defence ministry claimed its forces had captured two villages in eastern Ukraine, Krasnyi Yar in the Donetsk region and Nevske in Luhansk region – two key eastern regions Russia is looking to control.
The Ukrainian military disputed these claims on Telegram, saying it had repelled Russian attacks near Krasnyi Yar on the Pokrovsk front, a focal point of many of Russia’s frontline attacks.
Zelensky’s plan in full:
An unconditional invitation to Nato: “We understand that Nato membership is a matter of the future, not the present. But Putin can see that his geopolitical calculations are headed for defeat,” Mr Zelensky said according to Reuters.
Bolstered defence capabilities: Mr Zelensky says Ukraine’s defensive abilities must be “irreversibly strengthened”, something he said can be done by removing restrictions on weapons use, partly referring to long-range drone strikes into Russian territory.
Deterrence: Ukraine’s Western allies should demonstrate to Moscow that further aggression by Moscow would have consequences with a “comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrence package”, Mr Zelensky said. There is a secret addendum to this part of the plan, which Mr Zelensky provided no further detail of.
Strategic economic agreement: Mr Zelensky called for an agreement between Ukraine, the US, the EU and other allies to allow for joint investments into and use of Ukraine’s natural resources, which he said were worth trillions of dollars.
Ukraine’s role in strengthening Nato: Mr Zelensky proposed Ukraine’s armed forces being used to enhance Nato’s security, replacing some US forces currently stationed in Europe.
