Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the incursion of his country’s troops into Russia’s Kursk region was part of a “victory plan” he will present to US President Joe Biden next month.
Zelensky said at the forum on Tuesday that the success of the plan depends on whether Biden and the United States “give Ukraine the content of this plan.” [and] Are you free to use this plan?”
“It may seem overly ambitious to some, but it’s an important plan for us,” he added, adding that he would also present the plan to US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
In early August, elements of the Ukrainian military invaded Russia’s Kursk region, but Russia has so far not appeared to be able to repel them.
Speaking at the forum, Ukrainian commander in chief in Kiev, General Oleksandr Shirushky, said Ukraine now controls 1,294 square kilometres (500 square miles) of Russian territory and 100 settlements, but these figures have not been confirmed by the BBC.
General Shirsky said Ukraine had no intention of holding on to the territory and that one of the motives for the invasion was to divert Russian forces from their offensive in eastern Ukraine, where they are trying to capture the town of Pokrovsk, a key base and home to the country’s main railway station.
Zelensky also said Ukraine had recently successfully tested the first domestically developed ballistic missile. He congratulated the country’s defense industry but did not provide any details about the missile.
Ukraine already uses U.S.-supplied ballistic missiles against Russia, but it is working to develop domestic production of military equipment to reduce its reliance on Western aid.
But for now, Ukraine is relying mainly on military supplies from abroad to fight off Russia and repel its attacks. At the forum, President Zelensky said Ukraine had used newly arrived F-16 fighter jets sent by Western countries to intercept some of the missiles fired by Russia in recent days, but that the country needed more fighter jets.
Russia has bombarded Ukraine with a barrage of drone and missile attacks over the past two nights, killing several people and causing power outages across the country.
Zelensky said such attacks show Moscow has no intention of stopping the war “whenever they want.” [peace talks]230 airstrikes will not be carried out.”
However, since the Kursk invasion, Russia has shown no sign of entering into any peace negotiations with Ukraine.
“The topic of negotiations at the moment has lost almost all importance,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
