Zelenskyy on possibility of Biden rejecting his Victory Plan: that's a terrible thought

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the possibility of US President Joe Biden not supporting the Victory Plan put forward by Ukraine is "terrible" because that would lead to a very long war with a large number of casualties.

Source: President Zelenskyy in an interview with The New Yorker

Details: Zelenskyy said that the Victory Plan was developed with President Biden’s support in mind.

"If he doesn’t want to support it, I cannot force him," Zelenskyy said. "If he refuses – well, then we must continue to live inside Plan B [the war as Ukraine has experienced it so far – ed.]. And that’s unfortunate."

Joshua Yaffa, the journalist conducting the interview, asked Zelenskyy what would happen if Biden does not support his Victory Plan.

"That’s a horrible thought. It would mean that Biden doesn’t want to end the war in any way that denies Russia a victory. And we would end up with a very long war – an impossible, exhausting situation that would kill a tremendous number of people," Zelenskyy replied.

"Having said that," he continued, "I can’t blame Biden for anything. At the end of the day, he took a powerful, historic step when he chose to support us at the start of the war, an action that pushed our other partners to do the same. We recognize Biden’s great achievement in this respect. That step of his already constituted a historic victory."

Zelenskyy stressed that the goal of the Victory Plan is to quickly strengthen Ukraine.

"A strong Ukraine will force Putin to the negotiating table. I’m convinced of that. It’s just that, before, I was only saying it and now I’ve put it all on paper, with specific arguments and specific steps to strengthen Ukraine during the months of October, November, and December, and to enable a diplomatic end of the war," Zelenskyy said.

"The difference this time will be that Putin will have grasped the depth of this plan and of our partners’ commitment to strengthening us, and he will realise an important fact: that if he is not ready to end this war in a way that is fair and just, and instead wishes to continue to try to destroy us, then a strengthened Ukraine will not let him do so. Not only that but continuing to pursue that goal would also considerably weaken Russia, which would threaten Putin’s own position," the Ukrainian president said.

Background:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to visit the US next week and present his Victory Plan to President Joe Biden during a meeting in Washington, DC, on 26 September. Zelenskyy also hopes to explain the plan to presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
• Bloomberg reported that the Victory Plan envisages an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO and a commitment from the US to provide constant supplies of modern weapons.
• Zelenskyy further noted that the Victory Plan outlines decisions that are expected to be made between October and December 2024.
• On 18 September, President Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s Victory Plan was ready.

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