Russia has scoffed at Volodymyr Zelensky’s so-called ‘victory plan’ for Ukraine, declaring the president must ‘sober up’ to the dire situation faced by his armed forces and telling his European backers to cease ‘unnecessary spending’.
Zelensky stood before Ukraine’s parliament today to deliver the eight-point plan, which he recently pitched to allies including Sir Keir Starmer during a whistle-stop tour of Europe last week but had not publicly revealed.
He insists that the war with Russia could be ended as soon as next year if his Western supporters commit to backing each point of the plan – but Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov today dismissed the scheme as futile.
‘Most likely, this is the same American plan to fight us to the last Ukrainian, which Zelensky has now camouflaged and called a ”peace plan”,’ Peskov said.
While three of the points remain classified and will be discussed with lawmakers behind closed doors, Zelensky unveiled five steps – the first of which is to secure NATO membership for Ukraine.
The plan also calls on the US and UK to authorise long-range strikes into Russian territory, and offers Western partners the opportunity to access Ukraine’s wealth of natural resources via favourable trade and resource-sharing deals in return for help with post-war security and reconstruction efforts.
Finally, Zelensky ruled out the prospect of ceding any territory to Russia, promising lawmakers that his victory plan was ‘not a trade in Ukraine’s sovereignty or territory’.
Zelensky stood before Ukraine’s parliament today to deliver the eight-point plan, which he recently pitched to allies including Sir Keir Starmer during a whistle-stop tour of Europe last week but had not publicly revealed
Ukrainian servicemen of the 26th artillery brigade fire an AHS Krab self-propelled howitzer toward Russian positions near the front line in the Chasiv Yar area
An aerial view shows the destroyed city of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv Region near the border with Russia, on October 2, 2024 in Vovchansk, Ukraine
Zelensky has called on Western partners to authorise long-range strikes on Russia
Ukrainian soldiers from the Liut Brigade sit in a pickup truck on their way back to the frontline town near Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Region, Ukraine on October 07, 2024
A Ukrainian wounded serviceman who was brought back from positions is being treated by Ukrainian military doctors is prepared to be transported to a hospital, at a stabilisation point of the 33rd Mechanised Brigade, near the Kurakhove town’s frontline, in the eastern Donetsk region, early on October 14, 2024
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Director General Alexey Likhachev at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 15 October 2024
As Russian troops advance in the east and a bleak winter of power shortages looms, Zelensky delivered a rousing call for unity in the face of ongoing hostility, telling lawmakers he could secure peace provided Kyiv’s allies commit to his plan.
‘We achieved and are achieving results in battles thanks to our unity. Therefore, please do not lose unity,’ he 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.’
‘The first point is an invitation to NATO, now,’ Zelensky said in an address to lawmakers, claiming that Moscow had been undermining European security because Kyiv was not a member of the US-led defence alliance.
He went on to call for the ‘lifting by partners of restrictions on the use of long-range weapons on the entire territory of Ukraine occupied by Russia and on Russian territory and on enemy military infrastructure,’ and help in ‘equipping our reserve brigades’.
Zelensky also 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 on what such a deterrence might look like but said steps to achieve it would be laid out in a secret addendum to the plan that he could not disclose publicly.
Zelensky’s unveiling of the victory plan today comes after he told European leaders that he wanted to bring the war with Russia to a close in a matter of months.
‘I would like to see it (end) no later than next year, 2025,’ the Ukrainian President said Friday at a briefing in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, adding: ‘It is very important for us that this assistance does not decrease next year.’
Long-range missiles sit at the top of Zelensky’s wish list, along with sorely needed artillery batteries and shells.
Germany has been the biggest military aid supplier to Ukraine after the United States since Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces over the border in February 2022.
Scholz declared: ‘We will not let up in our support for Ukraine’, adding that peace ‘can only be brought about on the basis of international law’ and that ‘we will not accept a peace dictated by Russia’.
He pledged Germany and EU partners would send more defence equipment this year, and German aid worth four billion euros in 2025.
But the Chancellor has proven resistant to providing advanced long-range weaponry for offensive purposes and rejected calls to send Germany’s coveted Taurus missile system.
The Kremlin’s Peskov meanwhile said Europe should stop ‘unnecessary spending’ in support of Ukraine and suggested that many European countries were starting to face difficulties when it came to mobilising their military-industrial industries to help Kyiv.
‘This mobilisation of capabilities for ephemeral goals is contrary to the interests of the economic development of these countries, and clearly the capacities of these countries are not designed for such efforts,’ Peskov told reporters today.
‘In time, we hope, an understanding that such spending is unnecessary will become sharper and will sink in among more and more of the political establishment of these countries.’
An aerial view shows the destroyed city of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv Region near the border with Russia, on October 2, 2024 in Vovchansk
A view of the debris of residential area while search and rescue members conduct operation as they rescue residents from damaged houses after Russia carried out airstrikes on residential areas of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on October 10
Zelensky is pleading with Western leaders to authorise the use of long-range weaponry to conduct strikes deep inside Russia
Search and rescue members conduct operation as they rescue residents from damaged houses in Zaporizhzhia
A local resident walks next to destroyed buildings following Russian air attack in Druzhkivka in Donetsk Region
Volodymyr Zelensky is holding talks with Keir Starmer in Downing Street today as he drums up support for the fight against Russia
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Zelensky has for months pushed his Western partners to provide his forces with clearance to use long-range weapons, including British Storm Shadow missiles, to strike military targets deep inside Russia.
Washington, London and EU leaders have stalled on green-lighting the request over fears it could draw NATO allies into direct conflict with Russia.
Putin has long warned that Moscow would consider Ukraine’s Western allies directly party to the conflict if their weapons are used by Kyiv’s troops to strike targets on Russian soil, setting out a series of red lines that Western leaders appear reluctant to test.
But some analysts have argued that delaying the delivery of sorely needed weapons to Ukraine only to ultimately provide them anyway months later – such as in the case of F-16 fighter jets for air defence – renders them less effective and causes Ukraine to suffer unnecessary losses.
In Germany, Scholz’s refusal to deliver Taurus missiles is controversial, even within his own three-party coalition with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
‘We must supply Ukraine with significantly more air defence, ammunition and long-range weapons,’ said the Greens’ European MP Anton Hofreiter.
‘Restrictions on the range of weapons supplied do not contribute to de-escalation but rather enable further Russian attacks.’
The FDP’s defence expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told the same newspaper: ‘I very much hope that Zelensky will make it clear to the Chancellor once again that if Ukraine loses this war, this will not be the last war in Europe.’
Zelensky’s meeting with Scholz on Friday marked the end of a tour of Europe that also saw him hold talks with Keir Starmer in Downing Street alongside newly inaugurated NATO chief Mark Rutte, before visiting Paris and Rome on his way to Berlin.
In London last week, Sir Keir warmly embraced the Ukrainian president on the steps of No. 10 and reaffirmed his commitment to supporting Ukraine.
But Zelensky seemingly made no headway in his attempts to sway the Prime Minister on the issue of providing long-range missiles.
There had been strong signals last month that a breakthrough was close, with US President Joe Biden said to have discussed with Sir Keir the prospect of allowing Kyiv to use the likes of the US ATACMS and Anglo-French Storm Shadow missiles to strike as deep as 300km inside Russia.
Negotiations appear to have stalled, however, and Downing Street said yesterday that the UK’s position on Storm Shadows had not changed.
Zelensky has previously likened trying to fend off Russia without long-range weaponry to fighting ‘with his hands tied’.
New NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte joined the premiers for discussions, with Sir Keir underlining the UK’s commitment to Kyiv
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Besides long-range missiles to threaten military targets, damage infrastructure and disrupt key supply chains embedded deep within Russian territory, Ukraine is in desperate need of artillery batteries and ammunition to prevent further losses of troops and territory.
Despite the furore surrounding the innovation and development of drone warfare in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, artillery has proven to be the most effective and important weapon on the frontlines.
A recent report published by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank and Open Source Centre estimated that Russian artillery attacks are responsible for some 70 per cent of Ukrainian casualties.
The sheer numerical superiority of Russia’s artillery batteries and ammunition reserves afford Putin’s forces a significant advantage on the battlefield.
Russian artillery divisions can be deployed in more locations and can sustain a much higher rate of fire than their Ukrainian counterparts, helping to scupper Ukrainian counterattacks while softening up defensive positions.
‘As of August 2024, the Russian theory of victory does not centre on major breakthroughs, but rather on the destruction of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) as a force capable of defending the breadth (of the frontline),’ the RUSI report read.
‘The Russian leadership likely believes it can kill its way out of the war, and artillery will be key to doing that.
‘So long as Russia maintains a substantial advantage in artillery systems, it can use tactics that will, over time, deplete the AFU of reserves – a critical vulnerability for Ukraine.’
Kyiv therefore is desperate for Western partners to provide more artillery munitions, – and to help maintain and repair spent guns – to manage the widening discrepancy in capabilities on the front lines.
Meanwhile, the provision of long-range missiles would allow Ukraine’s forces to target ammunition dumps, manufacturing facilities, transport links and oil depots, which over time could degrade Moscow’s ability to furnish its frontline troops with a steady supply of shells.
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Publish date : 2024-10-16 03:45:00
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