KYIV (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was expected to unveil his much anticipated “Victory Plan” to the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday, after discussing it with his key Western allies during a set of quickfire trips in recent weeks.
As Russian troops advance in the east and a bleak winter of power shortages looms, the Ukrainian leader says the plan, which includes seeking an invitation to join the NATO military bloc, would force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war in good faith.
The exact details of the plan are not known, but Ukrainian officials have previously suggested it includes a request to the West to step up weapons supplies and to authorise longer-range strikes into Russia.
After two-and-a-half years of war, Zelenskiy’s speech to parliament will likely aim to persuade an exhausted Ukrainian public that the war can be ended soon and allay fears that Western support is rapidly ebbing.
Ukraine faces a precarious moment ahead of a Nov. 5 U.S. election that could return Donald Trump to the White House.
The Republican former president has pledged to rapidly end the war before entering office if he wins, an idea that Kyiv’s supporters fear would involve big concessions in the name of a quick deal.
The president’s office has not confirmed officially that the Zelenskiy speech will happen on Wednesday or said what time it will be.
But opposition lawmakers such as Iryna Gerashchenko said fellow MPs had been told to attend parliament for an unplanned session and that it was no longer a “secret” that Zelenskiy would present the plan.
“I’d like to believe (the plan) is realistic, because the situation is indeed very, very difficult,” she said.
Zelenskiy met U.S. President Joe Biden, his key ally, in Washington at the end of the September to present the plan. In a subsequent whirwind tour of Europe, he met the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Germany to discuss it.
Zelenskiy has since been invited to attend a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday to present the plan, summit chair Charles Michel said.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Olena Harmash; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Comments