Zelenskyj is to present a multi-step plan to US President Joe Biden at a meeting in the USA in September, the Ukrainian reveals at a major press conference he is holding with his government in Kiev. In connection with this, he also plans to present the plan to the American presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
The main purpose of the offensive across the border is to force Russia to end the war, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyj. He also sees a point in showing the Russian people that Vladimir Putin "cares more about conquering a city he has never heard of than protecting his own territory".
"Dialogue now meaningless"
He emphasizes that Ukraine is not willing to trade away any parts of the country's territory.
Dialogue with Putin would be pointless at present, he does not want a diplomatic end to the war. He wants to "diplomatically" get us to give him 30 percent of our land, says the Ukrainian president, according to, among others, RBC-Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military has for the first time in the war been able to rotate forces at the front, Volodymyr Zelenskyj continues. The difficult mobilization of more Ukrainians thus seems to be moving forward.
I cannot call it a full rotation yet. But I can honestly say that it is a start, an important one. And we are constantly talking about being able to reinforce Pokrovsk.
Pokrovsk is a city in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, attributed special strategic importance. Russian forces have slowly advanced towards it in recent weeks.
Home-built robot
Ukraine has, according to Zelenskyj, conducted a first and successful test of a domestically produced ballistic robot, but the president did not want to elaborate on this at the press conference.
It is part of a Ukrainian effort to become less dependent on arms deliveries from the country's benefactors.
