Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN General Assembly session on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE/JUSTIN LANE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will share his “victory plan” with Ukrainians having presented it to the US president and other partners last week, though more sensitive parts will not be made public to avoid revealing information to the Russians, the head of the Ukrainian President’s office Andriy Yermak announced on Sunday.
“Everything that becomes public is heard not only in our country, but also by the enemy. And therefore, of course, some details of this plan are hidden,” Yermak told Ukraine’s United TV marathon.
Yermak stressed that the “victory plan” would create the conditions for the implementation of Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan that he proposed in October 2022. According to Yermak, the plan will ensure that “a just peace” in Ukraine will “come precisely through strength”.
“We felt that our position was fully understood,” Yermak said of Zelensky’s visit to the US, adding that there were however “difficult questions” that “needed to be worked on”.
Having presented his plan to current US President Joe Biden and presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump last week, Zelensky thanked Biden on Saturday for the latest package of US military aid to Ukraine worth nearly $8 billion (€7.1 billion).
The Ukrainian president stressed that October would be “the time for decisions”, referring to the Ramstein summit in Germany on 10-12 October where Zelensky is set to meet with President Biden and leaders of other NATO states to coordinate further military support for Ukraine as well as more sanctions against Russia.
Zelensky once again called on Western partners to provide more long-range weapons and air defence systems for Ukraine, following Russian airstrikes on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Sunday which injured 14 people.
On Thursday The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration along with European officials were concerned that Zelensky’s “victory plan” would not provide a comprehensive strategy for winning the war.
It cited US officials familiar with the main points of the plan who reportedly said that the document contained little more than repackaged requests for more weapons and the lifting of restrictions on the use of long-range Western missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
The Ukrainian army is currently facing the most serious battlefield pressure in months in the east, where they find themselves outgunned and outnumbered against relentless Russian attacks. Russian forces continue to close in on the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk, targeting over 10 settlements around it, according to National Guard spokesman Ruslan Muzychuk.
