Zelensky addresses the Verkhovna Rada on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented a ten-point “resilience plan” to the country’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, in an hour-long address published in full by his press service on Tuesday.
Speaking on the thousandth day of the war, Zelensky said the ten-point plan aimed to help the country survive Russia’s war of aggression.
The ten points Zelensky sees as key include unity, weapons, money, energy and security.
“Unity is the first point of our internal resilience plan,” Zelensky said. “Ukrainians have corrected the historical mistake made by generations who fought for our state in previous times. We have remained united, and not lost our state. We have not fought each other. … For this reason, we have remained strong. And for this same reason, Ukraine can defeat Russia,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky envisions greater political cooperation with civil society to accelerate Ukraine’s European integration and a closer relationship with NATO, according to independent Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda’s recap of his speech.
“While the whole world is waiting for a miracle from Trump … we should get to work,” Zelensky continued, as the country braces for a Trump presidency likely to be less accommodating of Kyiv than the outgoing Biden administration.
Weapons production in Ukraine is expected to ramp up, and cooperation with partners is expected to strengthen in order to attract investment in Ukraine’s defence industry, Ukrainska Pravda continued.
“We have to act quickly, we have to act wisely. Ukraine may have to outlast someone in Moscow to achieve all its goals,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky also raised energy infrastructure and security as key to guaranteeing Ukraine’s future. The country would have to develop electricity generation facilities and production and clearing Ukraine of mines when the war ended, he said.
