Selenskyj: Ukraine prepares “plan to end the war”

Zelensky made the remarks at a press conference in Kyiv after meeting with Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar on Friday.

“We will also work out all other points of the peace formula and prepare a comprehensive plan that will be on the table for our partners,” Zelensky said.

“It is very important for us to present a plan to end the war that is supported by the majority of the world. This is the diplomatic path we are working on.”

The so-called peace formula is a ten-point document that Zelensky presented in November 2022. Among other things, it stipulates that Russia cede all former Ukrainian territories, withdraw all its troops, pay reparations and submit to war crimes tribunals. Moscow has dismissed the document as unrealistic and “out of touch with reality.”

Ukraine “must be strong on the battlefield,” Zelensky added, because Russia only respects strength.

“These are two parallel things – being strong on the battlefield and developing a plan, a clear plan, a detailed plan. And it will be ready this year,” he told reporters.

Zelensky’s comments came after he signed a long-term security pact with the EU on Thursday, committing the union to years of military and financial assistance. The US and several of its allies have signed separate aid pacts with Kyiv, also pledging to support Kyiv “for the long term”. Western diplomats have openly stated that the purpose of such deals is to protect Ukraine policy in case Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November.

In a speech in Brussels, Zelenskyy argued that Ukraine did not want to “prolong the war” and did not want the conflict to last “for years”.

“We have many wounded and dead on the battlefield. We need to put a solution plan on the table within a few months,” he said, without giving details.

Kyiv has remained tight-lipped about the number of Ukrainian casualties, stressing instead that it has inflicted massive losses on Russian forces. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukraine lost 35,000 soldiers in May alone, and nearly 500,000 since the beginning of the conflict.