And “if our allies remain united, we will not lose,” he said Thursday afternoon to the press at NATO headquarters, alongside the new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The latter immediately assured him of the solidity of the commitment of the 32 countries of this organization. “We will not lose our unity,” he said while Mr. Zelensky had not yet finished his response.
“Ukraine is ready to make real room for diplomacy”: Zelensky declines his “victory plan” before the EU and NATO
Change strategy
Several member states of the Alliance, however, are cautious on this level.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country is in NATO, described it on Thursday as “terrifying”.
“We are losing this war, this strategy is not working, we must change it!”, he said on his Facebook page, demanding the “immediate” opening of negotiations with Russia, where he He went in July for a very controversial “peace mission”.
The Kremlin rejected the Ukrainian plan, seeing it as nothing more than an attempt by kyiv to directly drag NATO into the war, an act “with serious consequences”, according to its spokesperson Dmitri Peskov.
But, for kyiv, there is an urgent need to implement it. More than two and a half years after the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine is retreating, particularly on the eastern front of Donbass, where the Russian army claims almost every day the conquest of a new village, as it has again done Thursday morning.
Another reason for concern, according to Volodymyr Zelensky, 10,000 North Korean soldiers are preparing “in their country” for a possible deployment in Ukraine or Russia to fight alongside the Russian army.
“We have no proof that North Korean soldiers are taking part in the fighting, but we know that North Korea supports Russia,” said Mark Rutte.
After having already defended his plan in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and Rome, the Ukrainian president revealed the main points on Wednesday before Parliament in kyiv.
European Summit – Volodymyr Zelensky presents his “victory plan” to the European Council
Lifting restrictions on the use of weapons that the West supplies to Ukraine, deployment on Ukrainian territory of non-nuclear deterrent weapons… None of these requests has so far met with unequivocal support from the side of the Allies.
However, according to Mr. Zelensky, discussions with EU countries were positive. “After our very frank conversations, the majority of those who spoke (at the summit of 27) did so to support the plan,” he said during a press conference.
Dream of NATO membership
The plan defended by Ukraine also recommends sending it immediately an invitation to join the Atlantic Alliance, its only real guarantee of security, according to the Ukrainian president
“Ukraine will be in NATO,” promised Mr. Rutte. But we will still have to wait and, “until that happens, we must make sure that Ukraine has everything it needs to win,” he explained to the press.
He thus recalled the commitment of the Allies who have already released nearly 21 billion euros in the first half of this year, out of the 40 billion promised in 2024 to Ukraine.
Other countries were more enthusiastic, calling on their partners in the Alliance and the EU to support the plan.
Biden announces $425 million in military aid to Ukraine to Zelensky
“We want this plan to succeed and we will work with Ukraine and encourage other countries to work with Ukraine,” British Defense Minister John Healey assured Thursday.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, however, called on Wednesday to “do everything” to prevent the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine, including by talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin, however in consultation with kyiv.
