The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskystated this Thursday (17) to Western allies that his country must be in a position of strength before any peace dialogue with the Russiawhen presenting his “plan for victory”.
Zelensky was invited to participate in a summit meeting of the European Union (EU) by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, which coincides with a meeting of defense ministers from NATO countries.
Upon arriving in Brussels, Zelensky said he wanted to “strengthen the Ukraineso that it is prepared for diplomacy.”
In the opinion of the Ukrainian president, Russia “will only resort to diplomacy when it realizes that it cannot achieve anything with force”.
“This is the plan. This is exactly what we need, and we must create the right conditions to end the war,” he added.
At a press conference after presenting the plan at the EU meeting, Zelensky said several government officials had expressed “full support.”
Shortly before traveling to the Belgian capital, the Ukrainian president highlighted that he would present “the plan for victory, our instrument to force Russia to peace”.
The president of the European Parliament, conservative Roberta Metsola, from Malta, said the bloc had “unequivocally” reaffirmed its support for Ukraine.
Metsola further stated that Zelensky’s plan is the way forward.
Zelensky presented the main guidelines of the plan to his country’s Parliament in Kiev on Wednesday.
The plan proposes mobilizing Western “non-nuclear strategic deterrence” resources in the country to convince Russia to conclude the war.
Difficulties
Zelensky highlighted that the details of the proposal were included in a “secret annex” already transmitted to the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany, members of NATO.
On Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said it was a “strong signal” but clarified that it did not mean he supported “the entire plan.”
Part of Zelensky’s idea is for Ukraine to be immediately invited to join NATO, which members of the military alliance consider unrealistic.
The transatlantic military bloc claims that Ukraine is on an “irreversible” path to joining the alliance, but does not dare announce a concrete accession date.
Furthermore, Ukraine’s immediate accession to NATO faces resistance from the United States and Germany, which seek to avoid an open confrontation with Russia.
On the same Wednesday, the United States ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, said that “we are not currently at the point of discussing a short-term invitation”.
Rutte stated that Ukraine “will be a member of NATO”, but added that “if the question is when this will happen, at the moment I cannot answer”.
After more than two and a half years of armed conflict, Ukraine loses territory in the Donbass region to the advance of Russian troops.
The Zelensky government faces pressure to present a strategy for exiting hostilities.
