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VOLODYMYR Zelensky has called Putin an afraid man and has said that the meatgrinder war in Ukraine could end as soon as next year.
The Ukrainian president, who is on a trip to the US for the UN General Assembly, is set to present his “Victory Plan” in Washington later this week.
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In an interview with ABC News, the Ukrainian leader said the war would end sooner than expected
AP
RexIn the interview with ABC News, Zelensky urged the US and other allies to continue supporting Ukraine.
Zelensky said: “I think that we are closer to peace than we think. “We are closer to the end of the war.”
The US and many other Western countries have provided a multi-billion dollar assistance program to Ukraine while also imposing several rounds of sanctions against Moscow.
“The plan for victory is to strengthen Ukraine. So we ask our friends, our allies to strengthen us. This is very important,” said Zelensky.
The Ukrainian leader said in the interview that only from a “strong position” can Ukraine push Russian President Vladimir Putin “to stop the war.”
He added that the Kursk incursion exposed the weakness of Putin’s position, even though the Russian military continues to advance on its objectives in Donbas.
“[Putin] is very afraid … Because his people saw that he can’t defend – that he can’t defend all his territory.”
Zelensky has said very little so far about his “victory plan”, except that it would act as a “bridge” to Ukraine’s next steps to restore peace in the region.
He intends to present it to the US Congress both the US presidential candidates set to contest in the upcoming November elections: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
“Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States,” Zelenskiy said in a Telegram post after meeting with a bipartisan delegation from the US Congress.
“Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year.”
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, said yesterday that the plan included accelerated Nato membership for Ukraine, something Moscow says it will never tolerate.
Putin says peace talks can begin only if Kyiv abandons swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine to Russia and drops its Nato membership ambitions.
Zelensky is also expected to ramp up efforts to get a green light on striking Western missiles deep inside Russia under his plan to victory.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian leader has publicly urged the UK and US to allow Ukraine to attack targets in Russia using long-range missiles.
Ukraine’s ambassador yesterday pleaded with Sir Keir Starmer to let UK-made Storm Shadow missiles be fired over the border to strike Russia.
He told Labour’s conference: “If Russia fires missiles at any targets in Ukraine it’s Ukraine’s right to respond in kind by hitting military targets within Russia. It’s the principle of self-defence.”
The Foreign Secretary refused to confirm if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will soon be given the go-ahead to fire Western weapons.
But Mr Lammy said: “I told Zelensky, this Labour Government will always stand with his courageous hope.
“We need to show Putin that Britain and its allies are not going anywhere which is why this Government has increased support to Ukraine, and we’ve committed £3bn a year in military aid as long as it takes.
He added: “We need to send another message to Vladimir Putin.
“Your interference in our democracy, promoting disinformation and encouraging disorder on our streets, encouraging kleptocrats to store their ill-gotten gains in our property market, must end.”
Earlier in the month, Mr Antony Blinken said the UK and the US would “look and listen” to Ukraine’s request to lift restrictions on firing at Russia – which risked the wrath of Putin.
He was set to report back to Joe Biden and Sir Keir Starmer who were due to meet in Washington to discuss the matter.
AFP
Getty
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, pleaded with Sir Keir Starmer to let his country strike Russia
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Russia controls about 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory and has been advancing in the east, taking control of a series of settlements in a push to seize the entire Donbas region.
In a bold move, Ukraine’s armed forces have been pushing into villages across the Russian border since August 6 amid the first-ever invasion on Russian soil since World War Two.
A trembling Vlad has been left fuming over the continued incursion as he has called on the Kremlin to deploy more troops into Kursk to “kick the enemy out”.
Just one week into the incursion, Kyiv claimed to have captured a formidable 1,000 square kilometres of Russian soil – more than what Putin was able to seize in the past year.
Since the end of 2023, Russia has only managed to steal 994 square kilometres of land inside Ukraine, The Telegraph reports.
Reports vary on the exact figure the Kremlin has been able to seize- but the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) gives Putin credit for taking over 1,100 square miles around Donetsk.
But Moscow has also lost hundreds of thousands of troops on the battlefield in this time with – many killed or severely wounded, according to Ukrainian military estimates.
The number of casualties continue to rise in Kursk with Putin’s men struggling to halt the Ukrainian advance.
It’s estimated the Ukrainians have also captured thousands of their rival soldiers in the staggering surge.
Experts have previously told The Sun how Ukraine’s Kursk invasion was a brilliant military move – and how the siege could spark the end of the war.
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