President Volodymyr Zelensky will present his new strategy for ending the war in Ukraine to the Ukrainian parliament, his office announced in Kiev ahead of the extraordinary session on Wednesday.

The president recently toured Western capitals, including Washington, London, Paris, Rome and Berlin, to present his victory plan.

Based on earlier remarks, an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO is part of Mr Zelensky’s strategy.

Ukraine is also calling for it to be allowed to use long-range Western weapons on targets deep inside Russia with the aim of taking the war to Russian society more forcefully.

Better air defences are also on the president’s wishlist, as is the demand that Russian drones should be downed from Polish and Romanian territory.

Kiev is also hoping for greater Western investment in Ukraine’s armaments industry.

Mr Zelensky has repeatedly expressed the hope of ending the war on Ukraine’s terms during 2025.

After seizing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and having its proxies take over part of eastern Ukraine, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its south-western neighbour in February 2022.

It now controls around a fifth of Ukrainian territory, while Ukrainian forces have seized parts of Russia’s southern Kursk region. 

(dpa/NAN)