By Andrew Gray and Sabine Siebold
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pitched his “victory plan” to European leaders on Thursday, urging them to back his call for an immediate invitation to join NATO to deal a “decisive” blow to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Addressing leaders of the European Union’s 27 member countries at a summit in Brussels, Zelenskiy also called for more military aid for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion.
“An immediate invitation to Ukraine to join NATO would be decisive. Putin just must see that his geopolitical calculations are worthless,” Zelenskiy told the leaders of the EU countries, most of which are also members of NATO.
“Putin must respect our strength, not have the free world tremble at his threats,” Zelenskiy said.
Putin has cited Ukraine’s potential membership of NATO as a reason for the invasion.
Zelenskiy’s five-point plan comes at a critical moment in the war, as Moscow’s forces advance in the east, a bleak winter of power cuts looms and a U.S. presidential election casts uncertainty over the future of Western support.
But there was no immediate sign that Kyiv’s most powerful allies were ready to throw their weight behind the most sensitive elements of the plan – such as a NATO invitation – even as they pledged continued support for Ukraine.
Asked about the plan as he arrived at the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “You know Germany’s position on the issues involved. This will not change.”
At NATO headquarters, which Zelenskiy is scheduled to visit later in the day, Secretary General Mark Rutte reiterated the alliance’s pledge that “Ukraine will be a member of NATO in the future” but could not say when.
“The question is about the timeline…I cannot answer this now, at this moment,” he told reporters at the start of a two-day meeting of NATO defence ministers.
Rutte has said NATO’s 32 members will have to study the plan in detail. Much will depend on its predominant power, the United States, which has so far shown no willingness to issue an immediate invitation to Ukraine.
Russia denounced Zelenskiy’s plan on Wednesday, saying he was trying to push NATO into a direct conflict with Moscow.
BALTIC SUPPORT
Some of Kyiv’s closest allies in the Baltic states voiced support for Zelenskiy’s initiative. Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas went as far as to back the specific call for immediate NATO membership.
“The invitation is a first stage, but it’s a real irreversibility, a point of no return,” Kasciunas said.
NATO has declared that Ukraine will become a member but cannot do so while at war as this would draw the alliance directly into conflict with Russia.
Zelenskiy argued NATO could issue an invitation now, even if membership itself comes further down the line.
His plan also calls for permission to use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russia and a “comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrence package” in Ukraine to protect against threats from Russia, which he has not detailed.
The plan also offers the West a role in developing Ukraine’s natural mineral resources and proposes Ukrainian troops could replace some U.S. forces in Europe.
(Additional reporting by Lili Bayer, John Irish, Yuliia Dysa and Anastasiia Malenko; Writing by Andrew Gray; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Angus MacSwan)
