Volodymyr Zelenskyy presents 'victory plan' to Ukraine's parliament
CBC
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy unveiled his much anticipated "victory plan" at Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday, urging his war-weary country to stay united at a precarious time ahead of its key U.S. ally's Nov. 5 presidential election.
As Russian troops advance in the east and a bleak winter of power shortages looms, he told lawmakers his plan contained five main points that relied on Kyiv's allies, including an unconditional invite to join NATO and specific weapons support.
"Together with our partners, we must change the circumstances so that the war ends. Regardless of what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wants. We must all change the circumstances so that Russia is forced to peace," he told lawmakers and top officials.
Zelenskyy emphasized 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, but said there was an additional secret addendum that he could not disclose.
Zelenskyy proposed that Ukraine sign an agreement with the U.S., EU and other unnamed allies that would allow for joint investments and use of Ukraine's natural resources, worth trillions, he said.
"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," he said.
The speech was attended by his top military, intelligence and political brass as well as lawmakers, some of whom occasionally stood up to applaud, although it was panned by some lawmakers.
Oleksii Honcharenko, who sits as an independent in parliament, said the plan looked "very unrealistic."
"We put almost everything on our partners. And what demands do we make of ourselves?" he said.
Roman Lozynskyi, a lawmaker for Zelenskyy's party, said it looked "fantastical" but that such past requests — such as for F-16s or British Storm Shadow missiles — had once seemed unrealistic but nonetheless yielded results.
Zelenskyy's speech sought to persuade the exhausted public that the war can be ended soon and to emphasize the importance of ordinary Ukrainians remaining united as war challenges pile up.
"We achieved and are achieving results in battles thanks to our unity. Therefore, please do not lose unity," he said.
The Kremlin said it was too early to comment in detail on Zelenskyy's plan, but that Kyiv needed to "sober up" and realize the futility of the policies it was pursuing.
After two-and-a-half years of war, the speech sought to persuade Ukraine's exhausted public that the war can be ended soon and to emphasize the importance of ordinary Ukrainians remaining united as war challenges pile up.
