Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the incursion of its troops into the Kursk region of Russia is part of a “victory plan” he will present to US President Joe Biden next month.
Speaking at a forum on Tuesday, President Zelensky said the plan’s success would depend on President Biden and whether the United States would give Ukraine “what is in this plan or not, (and) whether we will be free to use this plan, or not.”
“It may seem too ambitious for some, but it is an important plan for us,” he added, specifying that he would also show the plan to both US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Several Ukrainian troops launched an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in early August, and so far Russia appears unable to repel them.
Speaking at the same forum, Kiev’s commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s military, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Ukraine now controlled 1,294 sq km (500 sq miles) of Russian territory and 100 settlements – although these figures have not been verified by the BBC.
General Syrskyi said Ukraine had no intention of holding the territory and that one of the motivations for the incursion was to distract Russian forces from their own offensive in eastern Ukraine. capture the city of Pokrovskwhich is a major hub and home to a key railway station.
President Zelensky also revealed that Ukraine had recently successfully conducted the first test of a domestically produced ballistic missile. He praised his country’s defense industry, but declined to give further details about the missile.
Although Ukraine has already used US-supplied ballistic missiles against Russia, it is working to develop its domestic production of military hardware to reduce its dependence on Western aid.
However, for now, Ukraine relies mainly on military supplies from abroad to fight Russia and repel its attacks. At the forum, President Zelensky said that Ukraine has used some of its military resources to fight Russia. 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 would need more planes.
For two nights, Russia bombed Ukraine with a series of drone and missile attacks which caused several deaths and power cuts in several regions of the country.
Such attacks show that Moscow has no intention of stopping the war, President Zelensky said: “When they want (peace talks), they don’t launch 230 airstrikes.”
However, since the Kursk incursion, Russia has indicated that it will not engage in peace negotiations with Ukraine.
“The topic of negotiations has practically lost its relevance at present,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
