Zelenskiy unveils ‘Victory Plan’ as Ukraine faces precarious moment
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President Volodymyr Zelenskiy unveiled his much anticipated “Victory Plan” at Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday, urging his war-weary country to stay united at a precarious time ahead of its key U.S. ally’s Nov. 5 presidential election.
As Russian troops advance in the east and a bleak winter of power shortages looms, he told lawmakers his plan contained five main points that relied on Kyiv’s allies, including an unconditional invite to join NATO and specific weapons support.
“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,” he told lawmakers and top officials.
His third point emphasised the need for Ukraine to acquire a non-nuclear deterrence capacity that he said would be enough to destroy Russian military power. He did not elaborate, but said there was an additional secret addendum that he could not disclose.
The plan, he said, also envisaged a Western role defending Ukraine’s natural mineral resources from Russian attacks as well as post-war reconstruction pledges.
The speech was attended by his top military, intelligence and political brass as well as lawmakers, some of whom occasionally stood up to applaud.
The Kremlin said it was too early to comment in detail on Zelenskiy’s plan, but that Kyiv needed to “sober up” and realise the futility of the policies it was pursuing.
Key points from Zelenskiy’s Ukraine victory plan
– NATO INVITE
Ukraine needs an unconditional invitation to join the NATO military alliance now, he said.
“We understand that NATO membership is a matter of the future, not the present. But (Russian President Vladimir) Putin can see that his geopolitical calculations are headed for defeat,” Zelenskiy said.
– BEEF UP UKRAINE’S DEFENCE CAPABILITIES
He said Ukraine’s ability to defend itself had to be “irreversibly strengthened” and laid out a number of ways to do this.
They included further arming Ukraine and strengthening its defence industry, boosting air defence capabilities, removing restrictions on weapon use and a continuation of Ukrainian military operations on Russian soil.
– DETERRENCE
Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s western allies should deter Russia from any further aggression by showing Moscow that this would have consequences.
“Ukraine proposes to place on its soil a comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrence package that will be sufficient to protect Ukraine from any military threat from Russia,” he said.
He said there was also a secret addendum to this part of the plan, and did not go into further detail on what the proposed deterrence involved.
– STRATEGIC ECONOMIC POTENTIAL
Zelenskiy proposed that Ukraine sign an agreement with the U.S., EU and other unnamed allies that would allow for joint investments and use of Ukraine’s natural resources, which Zelenskiy said were worth trillions of dollars.
“These include, in particular, uranium, titanium, lithium, graphite and other strategically valuable resources that will strengthen either Russia and its allies or Ukraine and the democratic world in global competition,” he said.
– UKRAINE STRENGTHENING NATO
Zelenskiy proposed that after the war, Ukraine’s armed forces could be used to enhance the security of NATO, and replace some of the U.S. forces currently stationed in Europe.
