Photo: Press service of the Ukrainian president via Agence France-Presse “Russia must lose the war against Ukraine,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a speech in parliament.
Daria Andriievska – Agence France-Presse and Florent Vergnes – Agence France-Presse in kyiv
Published at 9:22 Updated at 10:57
- Europe
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled his “victory plan” on Wednesday, in a highly anticipated speech in which he ruled out any territorial concessions to Russia and called on the West to invite him into NATO.
This plan is on the agenda of the NATO ministerial meeting that begins Thursday in Brussels, its Secretary General Mark Rutte subsequently announced.
Russian diplomacy has accused Mr. Zelensky of “pushing” the countries of the Atlantic Alliance to “enter into direct conflict” with Moscow.
Moscow has dismissed the Ukrainian leader's proposals aimed at obtaining, in particular, the deployment of non-nuclear deterrent means in Ukraine.
“The only peace plan that can be, is the understanding by the Kiev regime that its policy is without perspective and that it is necessary to wake up,” Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin, told the press.
After months of secret planning and a whirlwind European tour, Zelensky presented his plan to parliament, which is supposed to lead to a “just and swift end” to the war by 2025, rejecting the idea of ceding territory to Moscow in exchange for peace, despite a critical shortage of men and resources.
“Russia must lose the war against Ukraine. There can be no ‘freezing’ (of the front). There can be no trade-offs regarding Ukraine’s territory or its sovereignty,” he insisted.
kyiv and its allies must “force Russia to attend a peace summit,” he insisted, referring to a conference he would like to organize in November, but whose eventuality remains uncertain.
Russia would be invited, unlike a first edition in June. For Mr. Zelensky, it is about giving Moscow the choice between “an honest diplomatic process,” or facing the military deterrents that Ukraine will have thanks to the West.
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Photo: Anatolii Stepanov Agence France-Presse Relatives of missing Ukrainian soldiers, during a demonstration held in kyiv, on October 16.
Secret annex
To do this, he is demanding from his Western allies non-nuclear means of deterrence, the capacity to strike deep into Russian territory and an invitation to join NATO.
“Ukraine offers to deploy on its territory a comprehensive set of non-nuclear strategic deterrence measures, which will be sufficient to protect Ukraine from any military threat from Russia,” he said on Wednesday.
This point is detailed in a “secret annex” that was presented to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany.
He again called for the lifting of “restrictions on the use of long-range weapons on the entire territory of Ukraine occupied by Russia and on Russian territory,” as well as continued Western assistance to train and equip “reserve brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
The West refuses to allow kyiv to freely use the missiles it supplies on Russian territory, fearing a escalation, while Mr. Putin has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons.
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“Do everything” for peace
M. Zelensky, who will present his plan on Thursday at an EU summit, has also asked to invite his country to join NATO, even if membership itself can happen later.
However, Russia launched its invasion in February 2022 in particular to prevent a rapprochement between kyiv and the Atlantic Alliance. It is demanding the surrender of Ukraine, its demilitarization and five regions: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia in addition to Crimea annexed in 2014.
In contrast to Mr Zelensky's speech, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Wednesday to “do everything” to prevent the conflict from continuing, including by talking to Vladimir Putin, in consultation with kyiv and that country's allies.
“If we are asked: 'Are we going to talk to the Russian president about it,' we say 'yes, that's the case'”, he told members of the Bundestag.
Ukrainian forces have been retreating for months in Donbass, eastern Ukraine, the conquest of which is Mr Putin's “priority”.
Moscow again claimed on Wednesday the conquest of the village of Nevske in the Luhansk region, and that of Krasniy Yar, a dozen kilometers from Pokrovsk, a strategic Ukrainian hub that Moscow is trying to conquer.
On September 22, the Ukrainian president presented his plan to US President Joe Biden. But so far, the United States has not made any announcements, particularly on the use of long-range weapons.
During this visit, Volodymyr Zelensky also urged the UN Security Council to “force Russia to peace,” after more than two and a half years of a conflict that has left tens of thousands of civilian and military dead.