Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky is set to defend his “victory plan” for Ukraine to both EU leaders and NATO defense ministers, with the outlook on the battlefield bleak in Kyiv’s battle to repel the Russian invasion.
More than two and a half years into the war, Kyiv is losing new territory almost daily in its eastern Donbas region and under mounting pressure to forge an exit strategy — which it says must start with ramped-up Western support.
“Now we are on the way to Brussels,” Zelensky said in a video posted as he made the trip. “I will present the victory plan, our tool for forcing Russia to peace. All European leaders will hear how we need to strengthen our position. We need to end this war justly.”
Zelensky heads first to the EU summit where he will address the media in the late morning, with a joint press conference with NATO chief Mark Rutte later in the day — wrapping the first of two days of talks between the Alliance’s 32 member states.
While calling it a “strong signal,” the NATO secretary-general cautioned Wednesday he was not endorsing Zelensky’s “whole plan” — which calls first and foremost for an immediate invitation to join the US-led alliance, a plea widely seen as unrealistic.
NATO countries have declared Ukraine to be on an “irreversible path” to membership, however, the United States and Germany have led opposition to immediate entry, believing it would effectively put the alliance at war with nuclear-armed Russia.
