Subscribe here: [ Ссылка ] As Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to reveal a “victory plan” to President Joe Biden on Thursday, Kyiv is looking to the US leader for a strong show of support before he leaves the White House.

A senior official in Kyiv said they wanted him to “make history” in his final months in office.

While details of the Ukrainian plan have been kept under wraps, the strategy is likely to contain pleas for further military and financial support, plus future security guarantees.

Zelensky says it is designed to be a “bridge” towards stopping the war, which he believes could end sooner than people think.

If the West strengthens Ukraine’s position, he argues Russia’s Vladimir Putin could be pushed into a diplomatic peace.

"This war can't be calmed by talks. Action is needed," he told the UN Security Council late on Tuesday.

Ever sharp at public relations, Ukraine’s president is also aiming to take on critics in the US who have questioned the wisdom of pouring further money into Ukraine’s cause – by promoting an apparent blueprint for eventual peace.

Zelensky is throwing a huge diplomatic effort behind his victory plan.

He is almost camped out at the United Nations. He spoke on Monday at a debate about how the UN should be reformed. He addressed the Security Council on Tuesday. And he is giving a speech to the General Assembly on Wednesday.

In between, he is meeting world leaders and US politicians. He visited an ammunition factory in Scranton, Joe Biden’s hometown in Pennsylvania, one that is making shells for Ukrainian artillery batteries.

And he is explicit that he considers time is short. In one of his many media interviews, Zelensky told the New Yorker that the victory plan had to be agreed - and Ukraine strengthened - in October, November and December.

“This plan is designed, first and foremost, with Biden’s support in mind,” he told the magazine. That support is by no means guaranteed but Zelensky is staking much on securing it.

That is because the situation will change significantly if Donald Trump were to win the election. At a campaign rally on Monday, the former president mocked Zelensky as “the greatest salesman in history” because “every time he comes into this country, he walks away with $60bn”.

Trump restated his position that he would urge Russia and Ukraine to agree a deal to end the war, one that Kyiv fears would force them to accept territorial losses and no guarantee against further Russian aggression.

It is the fear of such a scenario that is pushing the diplomatic drive behind Zelensky’s victory plan this week. Some diplomats are sceptical the plan would succeed in nudging Russia towards a negotiating table. Much depends now on Biden’s response.

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