A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Ukraine's president is in Brussels today to speak to European Union leaders about his plan to end the war by the end of next year without ceding any territory to Russia. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is urging Western allies to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join NATO as soon as possible.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
But some allies, including the U.S., want to avoid provoking Russia. Zelenskyy says the West needs to change its strategy to keep Russia's war from spreading.
MARTÍNEZ: Joining us to talk about all this is NPR's Joanna Kakissis in Kyiv. So Joanna, tell us about this so called victory plan. It sounds very ambitious. What does it include?
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Well, A, it's basically a series of conditions that President Zelenskyy believes will end the war without giving up territory now occupied by Russia or leaving Ukraine vulnerable to another Russian invasion. Zelenskyy revealed to lawmakers on Wednesday that some Western allies have been pressuring him to negotiate and not on what he says are fair terms.
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Through interpreter) We hear some partners using the word negotiation a lot. The word justice is heard much less often. I've said many times that Ukraine is open to diplomacy but from a strong and honest position.
KAKISSIS: Zelenskyy says Russia only wants Ukraine's surrender. And he said the only way to keep Ukraine safe from Russia is through an iron-clad security guarantee, like an invitation to join NATO. That would show Russian leader Vladimir Putin that his geopolitical ambitions are doomed.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, so that's the plan. What's been the response from Ukraine's allies?
KAKISSIS: Well, the response has been polite, but muted. The new NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that the Security Alliance remains supportive of Ukraine, but he gave no more details than that. He did point out, however, that the Kremlin cannot influence who joins NATO.
MARK RUTTE: And therefore, let there be no doubt that Putin or Russia have no vote on this, have no veto on this. This is really a discussion which is ongoing between us and Ukraine.
KAKISSIS: Meanwhile, President Biden spoke to Zelenskyy by phone and announced on Wednesday more than $400,000,000 in new military aid that Ukraine badly needs, including air defense capabilities and air-to-ground munitions. But the White House is also reluctant to support inviting Ukraine to join NATO right now. And the U.S. also does not support another key condition of Zelenskyy's victory plan, which is the lifting of restrictions on Ukraine to strike military targets deep inside Russia with advanced weapons supplied by the West. The U.S. says these moves would escalate the war, and the Kremlin said the same thing that this plan will push NATO into direct conflict with Russia.
MARTÍNEZ: So it sounds, Joanna, like it might be tough to get accomplished. Where would that leave Ukraine then?
KAKISSIS: Well, Zelenskyy's in a difficult position, both domestically and globally. Most Ukrainians do not want a peace settlement that involves giving up territory occupied by Russia. Meanwhile, Ukraine's allies are facing their own political headwinds. Far-right politicians close to the Kremlin are winning political influence in European nations allied with Ukraine. And Ukraine could also lose its single most important ally, the U.S., after next month's presidential election. So Zelenskyy is trying to warn allies that this war has already widened, especially due to Russia's deepening alliance with Iran and especially North Korea. And so they need to change strategy to keep it from spreading further.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Joanna Kakissis in Kyiv. Joanna, thank you.
KAKISSIS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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