Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sings a national anthem during a session of the Ukrainian parliament dedicated the Constitution Day, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 28, 2023. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
KYIV (Reuters) -President Volodymyr Zelenskiy unveiled his much anticipated "victory plan" on Wednesday, calling on his allies to take urgent steps to bolster Kyiv at a precarious moment in a bid to end the war with Russia next year.
As Moscow's forces advance in the east and a bleak winter of power cuts looms, he told parliament his plan contained five main points that were in the hands of his allies, including an unconditional invite to join NATO now and weapons support.
In return, he offered a Western role in developing Ukraine's natural mineral resources and said Ukrainian troops could enhance the security of NATO and replace some of the U.S. forces in Europe.
"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 lawmakers and top officials.
Zelenskiy, who has unrelentingly called for a "fair" end to the war, says his plan is needed to force the Kremlin to negotiate in good faith, though he appeared to acknowledge in his speech that some allies see the war's end game differently.
"We hear the word 'negotiations' from partners and the word 'justice' much less often. Ukraine is open to diplomacy, but honest (diplomacy)," he said.
His plan proposed establishing a "comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrence package" inside Ukraine to protect against threats from Russia and to destroy its military power. He did not elaborate, but said there was an additional secret addendum that he could not disclose.
The plan, he added, also envisaged a Western role investing in and jointly protecting Ukraine's natural mineral resources from Russian attacks as well as post-war reconstruction pledges.
The plan is a major test of the political will of Kyiv's key allies, who have poured in many billions of dollars of weapons to support Ukraine, while navigating fears of an "escalation" in a war against a nation with the world's largest nuclear arsenal.
NATO has said Ukraine is heading for membership but has stopped short of issuing an invitation. The alliance's new chief, Mark Rutte, said the plan was a strong signal, but that he was not able to support it as a whole as things stand.
The Kremlin said it was too early to comment in detail, but that Kyiv needed to "sober up" and realise the futility of the policies it was pursuing.
Russia's own war effort has been boosted by what Zelenskiy said were North Korean transfers of arms and personnel. Earlier this year, the West and Ukraine said Iran had sent Russia close-range ballistic missiles, something Moscow denied.
URGING UNITY
Outnumbered by Russian forces, Ukraine's weary military has struggled to find a way to stop Moscow's troops inching forward in the east, seizing devastated village after village and threatening the logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
The deep uncertainty from the looming change of power in the United States has made the situation harder still and November's election could propel Donald Trump, who has been consistently sceptical of Ukraine aid, back to the White House.
The Republican former president has pledged to rapidly end the war before entering office if he is re-elected, an idea that Kyiv's supporters fear could involve crushing concessions in the name of a quick deal.
Zelenskiy said it was imperative Kyiv's partners remained united.
He reiterated his months-old request for Western backing to conduct longer-range strikes into Russia, spoke of a "clear list of weapons" and air defences that were needed and the importance of continuing its operations in Russia, a reference to Kyiv's surprise incursion in Russia's Kursk region in August.
"If we start moving on this victory plan now, we may be able to end the war by next year at the latest," he said.
Zelenskiy said he would travel to a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday to present his plan.
He already met U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington at the end of the September to discuss it. In a subsequent whirlwind tour of Europe, he met the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Germany and outlined his plan.
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 said the plan looked "very unrealistic": "We put almost everything on our partners. And what demands do we make of ourselves?"
Roman Lozynskyi, a lawmaker for Zelenskiy's party, said it looked "fantastical" but that such past requests - such as for F-16s or Storm Shadow missiles - had once seemed unrealistic but nonetheless yielded results.
Zelenskiy's speech sought to persuade the exhausted public that the war can be ended soon and to emphasise 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.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth, Olena Harmash, Yuliia Dysa; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
