International

Ukraine’s Zelensky Says Drafting ‘Comprehensive Plan’ To End War With Russia

The two warring sides—Ukraine and Russia appear as far apart as ever when it comes to the terms of a potential peace settlement.

AP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky | Photo: AP
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Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he was drawing up a "comprehensive plan" for how Kyiv believes the war with Russia should end.

For now there are no public talks ongoing between Ukraine and Russia and based on public statements by Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The two warring sides—Ukraine and Russia appear as far apart as ever when it comes to the terms of a potential peace settlement.

Earlier, Zelensky hosted a major international summit in Switzerland to which Russia was not invited. It was at the summit Zelenskyy tried to rally support for Ukraine's position.

"It is very important for us to show a plan to end the war that will be supported by the majority of the world," Zelensky was quoted by AFP as saying.

"This is the diplomatic route we are working on," he was quoted in the above report as saying at a press conference in Kyiv alongside Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar.

Over 90 countries sent leaders and senior officials to the two-day summit with Zelensky in Switzerland. The vast majority of whom agreed to a final communique that stressed the need for Ukraine's "territorial integrity" to be respected in any settlement, the above report stated.

However, it added some key countries that attended, like India, did not agree and others, like Russia's ally China, boycotted the summit in protest at Moscow not being invited.

Ukraine has repeatedly said Russia must pull its troops out of its internationally recognised territory, including the peninsula of Crimea that Moscow annexed in 2014, before peace talks can start.

Meanwhile Putin, who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is demanding Ukraine effectively capitulate by evacuating even more territory across its east and south.

In Brussels on Thursday, Zelensky said he would put forward a "detailed plan" in a matter of months.

"We don't have too much time," he was quoted as saying.