Ukraine will be left in an “extremely difficult” position in its war with Russia if western allies do not buy into a victory plan drawn up by Kyiv, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said.
The Ukrainian leader was speaking after addressing EU leaders at a summit in Brussels, where he presented his plan to put Ukraine in a strong position to try to force Russia to the negotiating table.
The plan includes a request that Ukraine be offered membership of the Nato military alliance and that its western allies ramp up the supply of weapons and military supplies, as well as lift restrictions on the Ukrainian army using long-range missiles to strike deep in Russian territory.
Mr Zelenskiy went into further detail about support North Korea is reportedly now providing Russia in its war with Ukraine. “We know [there are] about 10,000 soldiers of North Korea that they are preparing to send to fight against us,” he said. These forces would help fill a “gap” in the Russian army arising from losses suffered on the battlefield, he said. There were also signals that China was still supporting Russia and helping its president, Vladimir Putin, “drag out this war,” he said.
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Mr Zelenskiy said he had discussed his request for Ukraine to be invited to join Nato with US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who he said had agreed with some points he put forward. He said he had made the case to Mr Trump that Ukraine previously agreed to give up its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal, in exchange for security guarantees that were not kept.
Mr Zelenskiy said he understood there were some in the US who feared the expansion of Nato would risk “dragging” the country directly into a war. However, Mr Putin could not be allowed to be the one setting red lines for the international order, he said.
Ukraine’s hopes of Nato membership had also been raised with German chancellor Olaf Scholz. “He never said no and never said yes. We will work on it,” Mr Zelenskiy said of their discussions. Opening the door to Nato membership could be a process that resulted in Ukraine joining the alliance after the war, he said.
There had been “positive signals” that western allies donating long range missiles would give Ukraine a free hand to use them to strike military targets deeper in Russian territory, he said.
“Our people in Ukraine are doing everything they can to defend our state and independence,” he said. “What if we are not getting the support? We will continue fighting, we will struggle for our rights.”
Ukraine’s latest plea to its allies in Europe comes as Russian forces continue to make gains in the east, while also hammering Ukraine’s energy infrastructure heading into the winter.
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