Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested in a speech to parliament on Tuesday that temporary Russian control over Ukrainian territory may be inevitable while Russian President Vladimir Putin remains in power.
“Perhaps Ukraine needs to outlive someone in Moscow to achieve its goals and restore the entire national territory,” the Ukrainian president said.
Speculation has circulated in international media for some time that the war in Ukraine could be frozen along the front lines without Kiev legally ceding territory to Russia.
In his speech to parliament, Zelensky categorically ruled out the possibility of Ukraine formally ceding territory: “We are not waiving Ukraine’s rights to its territory,” he emphasized.
Zelensky also presented a plan to parliament for how to increase Ukraine’s resilience to Russian pressure, focused on military, economic and social efforts within Ukraine. Details are to follow in December.
He said Ukrainian weapons were one of the main guarantees of Ukrainian independence, citing massive investments in armaments.
“Even without nuclear weapons, we can find conventional instruments of containment,” Zelensky said.
To this end, the president said 30,000 long-range combat drones and 3,000 cruise missiles are to be produced next year. Domestic ammunition production is also to be expanded.
Zelensky’s plan for Ukraine comes shortly after he presented a “victory plan” to international partners in October, which included a request for an invitation to join the NATO military alliance.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for 1,000 days with support from its Western allies.
