Zelenskiy to Push US for NATO Invite, Weapons Guarantees

(Bloomberg) - Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he'll present Ukraine's "victory plan" to President Joe Biden and both presidential hopefuls in the coming week, as well as making it public more generally to allies and others.

Most Read from Bloomberg

"The Victory Plan, this bridge to strengthening Ukraine, can contribute to more productive future diplomatic meetings with Russia," Zelenskiy told reporters in a briefing on Friday. "Russia should see it."

The broad contours of the proposal include ensuring Ukraine's place in the global "security architecture," boosting its weapons capabilities, and economic development, Zelenskiy said.

Ukraine's leader is expected to travel to the UN General Assembly in New York, with the nation's speaking slot in the general debate set for Wednesday, and from there to Washington to meet with Biden. He's also expected to hold talks with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, and key members of Congress.

Ukraine's incursion into Kursk, the first foreign military offensive inside Russia since World War II, also plays a role in the plan that Zelenskiy didn't elaborate on.

In their meeting, Zelenskiy will push Biden to provide an official invitation for Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance and commit to a sustained supply of advanced weapons.

He's expected to present the plan, which also requests a clear pathway to European Union membership, when the pair meet in Washington on Sept. 26, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.

The Ukrainian leader has described the proposal as a blueprint for how to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek peace. Kyiv has also worried that a cease-fire without such guarantees would leave Russia free to strike again after re-arming.

"We will discuss all the details with the US president because some points depend on positive will and support of the US," Zelenskiy told reporters Friday at a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "The plan relies on quick decisions of our partners, which should be taken from October to December. We need it like that because we think then the plan will work out."

Zelenskiy has said the latest proposal will help lead to his earlier "peace plan," which includes Russia's total withdrawal. That proposal failed to garner widespread support at a summit in June hosted by Switzerland as many countries in the Global South, which have been ambivalent about isolating Russia, refused to endorse it.

On Friday, Zelenskiy also reiterated that Kyiv wants to hold a second summit by the end of the year that would include Russia.

Some of Ukraine's supporters are starting to examine options for a negotiated cease-fire as the war grinds through a third year, Bloomberg News reported this week. Amid those discussions, Zelenskiy has stuck to his earlier position that Ukraine cannot cede territory captured by Russia, one of the people said.

Zelenskiy has dialed up his criticism of Ukraine's partners this month over what he sees as their flagging support while Russia has stepped up attacks on the country's energy infrastructure ahead of winter. The Ukrainian leader said the arrival of military aid has risen this month but remains too slow.

Separately, he disputed a Wall Street Journal report this week, which cited internal estimates, that Ukraine has lost 80,000 service members in the war, claiming casualty numbers were much lower. Zelenskiy didn't provide his own estimate of losses, sticking to the rule of not making such data public in wartime.

The incursion into Russia's Kursk territory, as well as Zelenskiy's continued requests to use US and UK weapons for strikes deeper into Russia, have raised questions from Washington and allies over Ukraine's strategy heading into 2025.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine hasn't used Western long-range weapons to target Russian territory, and that neither the US nor UK have so far given permission for such strikes.

In the briefing, Zelenskiy said that the Kursk operation was keeping some 42,000 Russian troops locked in fighting there. The claim couldn't be independently verified.

"Our job is to put Ukraine in a strong position on the battlefield so that they are in a strong position at the negotiating table," White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sept. 14, adding that the administration hopes to have "a conversation that puts all of the pieces together."

-With assistance from Aliaksandr Kudrytski, Alberto Nardelli, Alex Wickham and Courtney McBride.

(Recasts with Zelenskiy comments from second paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek