The five key points of Zelensky’s ‘Victory Plan’
The Ukrainian victory plan calls for western unity to ensure Russia is “forced to peace”, president Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“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 members of the Ukrainian parliament.
Here are the five key points he laid out on the speech:
1 – An invite to NATO
An unconditional invitation to join the NATO western military alliance is a necessary element of Ukraine’s victory, Zelensky told parliament.
“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,” he said according to Reuters.
2- Bolstered defence capabilities
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.
He said that boosting air defence capabilities, strengthening Ukraine’s defence industry, and continuing Ukraine’s military operations in Russia’s Kursk region, will bring Ukraine to victory.
3 – Deterrence
Ukraine’s western allies should demonstrate to Moscow that further aggression by Moscow would have consequences, Zelensky said.
He told parliament: “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.”
There is a secret addendum to this part of the plan, which Zelensky provided no further detail of.
4 – Strategic economic agreement
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.
“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,” Zelensky said.
5 – Ukraine’s role in strengthening NATO
Zelensky proposed Ukraine’s armed forces being used to enhance NATO’s security, replacing some US forces currently stationed in Europe.