Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday unveiled his long-awaited Victory Plan to end Russia’s invasion, rejecting any territorial concessions and urging ramped-up Western backing, including an invitation to join NATO.

After pushing back Russian troops at the start of the invasion in February 2022, Kyiv is now facing mounting pressure to find an exit strategy as its troops suffer battlefield losses and Moscow intensifies its strikes on infrastructure.

Russia has seized around a fifth of Ukraine’s territory since the invasion began, reducing towns and cities to rubble and killing thousands of civilians.

Ukraine: position of military forces. Photo: Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER / AFP Source: AFP

But in his address to lawmakers in Kyiv on Wednesday, the 46-year-old leader ruled out the possibility that Ukraine could cede some territory to secure peace and also dismissed any pause in the conflict.

“Russia must lose the war against Ukraine. And this does not mean a freeze (in fighting) and it does not mean any trade in Ukraine’s territory or sovereignty,” Zelensky said in his speech to lawmakers, flanked by European Union and Ukrainian flags.

The number one priority in the five-part so-called Victory Plan, the Ukrainian leader said, was closer integration with the US-led NATO defence alliance.

“The first point is an invitation to NATO, now,” Zelensky said, claiming that Moscow had been undermining security in Europe for decades because Kyiv was not a member.

Kremlin derides ‘futile’ plan

Zelensky also said that his country’s Western allies should lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons so Kyiv can target Russian military sites on occupied Ukrainian territory and also within Russia.

The Kremlin immediately dismissed Zelensky’s roadmap to end the grinding conflict, describing it as “some ephemeral peace plan”.

“The only peace plan there can be is for the Kyiv regime to realise the futility of the policy it is pursuing and understand the need to sober up,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Ukrainian servicemen prepare to board an armoured vehicle to go to the front, near the town of Kurakhove in the eastern Donetsk region. Photo: Roman PILIPEY / AFP Source: AFP

Russia has demanded Kyiv abandon territory it already controls in the east and south of Ukraine as a precondition for peace talks.

The Russian military announced during Zelensky’s address to lawmakers that its forces had captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine, where its forces are steadily advancing.

The ministry said the villages of Nevske and Krasnyi Yar had been “liberated”, publishing a video of destroyed buildings in Nevske with Russian flags flying from two of them.

‘Coalition of criminals’

In his address, Zelensky criticised China, Iran and North Korea for their support for Moscow, renewing accusations that Pyongyang was sending its citizens to work in Russian factories and fight alongside Russian forces.

“The coalition of criminals along with Putin already includes North Korea,” Zelensky told lawmakers. “Everyone sees the Iranian regime’s assistance to Putin, and also China’s cooperation with Russia.”

An elderly woman walks past damaged buildings in the town of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region. Photo: Roman PILIPEY / AFP Source: AFP

Kyiv has dismissed any rival plans to end the war, including those put forward by Brazil and China, saying they lack guarantees for Ukraine’s security or the war-battered country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Unlike Zelensky’s “Peace Formula,” an agenda that stipulates Russia must withdraw all its troops from Ukraine’s internationally-recognised borders, the Ukrainian leader had until Wednesday given few details about his “Victory Plan.”

He visited European leaders last week in a bid to promote the plan and secure as much aid as possible, as future backing from Washington hinges on the outcome of presidential elections next month.

On Wednesday, he said he had discussed a secret annex to the “Victory Plan” with the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Germany to deploy on Ukrainian territory a “non-nuclear strategic deterrence package” that would discourage future Russian attacks after the war.

He also said he would present his Victory Plan in full at an EU summit on Thursday, urging more Western support and an invitation to NATO.