Vladimir Putin humiliated as Ukraine's 'victory plan' set to be revealed in days
Ukraine's president Zelensky is expected to present a strategy for beating Putin's forces to President Biden next week.
A humiliated Vladimir Putin can only watch from the sidelines next week as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to unveil a "victory plan" in the US next week.
President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine have been a thorn in Putin's side ever since his illegal invasion of the neighbouring country was initially repulsed in February 2022.
Since then a brutal war of attrition has raged between Kyiv and Moscow's forces which according to some reports has claimed the lives of more than 70,000 Russian soldiers and left around 600,000 injured.
For its part the Kremlin has been ruthless in its attacks on Ukraine, brutally killing civilians in towns and cities with wave-upon-wave of artillery, rocket and drone strikes.
A 650-mile-long frontline in the east of Ukraine has been dubbed a 'meat grinder' for the rate at which it has been claiming soldier's lives both sides, but last month Ukrainian forces suprised Putin and the world with a daring incursion into Russian territory taking large tracts on land in the Kursk region.
President Zelensky has been pleading with US, British and NATO leaders to allow his country to use longe-range missiles supplied by the West to strike targets inside Russia.
So far both Joe Biden and Sir Keir Starmer have resisted the calls, but during a trip to Washington next week, Mr Zelensky is expected to go into overdrive to persuade his hosts Ukraine can win the war.
Speaking ahead of his visit, Mr Zelensky said he would present his "victory plan" although he did not share any more details except to say it contains terms acceptable for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.
He said: "This will be the start and foundation for talking in any format with Russia. In any format, with any of its representatives, because there will be a plan and something to show."
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The Ukrainian leader said he will present the plan to Mr Biden and Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris and also plans to meet with Harris' opponent in the November US election, former President Donald Trump.
He said US reluctance so far to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russia stems from fears of escalation from Moscow, a major global nuclear power.
The Ukrainian president added: "I think that Biden is really getting information from his entourage today that there may be an escalation. But, and this is important, not everyone around him thinks so. And this is already an achievement that not all of his entourage thinks so."
Ukraine does already have capabilities for striking targets inside Russia. On Wednesday a huge Kremlin ammunition dump was sent sky high by a series of massive explosions near the town of Toropets, in Russia’s Tver region, about 300 miles from the Ukrainian border.
