KYIV (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday that the war had reached a decisive moment, as he urged citizens to stay “resilient” and touted plans for a huge ramp-up in production of strike weapons.
In an hour-long speech to mark 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion, he said Ukraine would not trade its sovereignty or relinquish its right to its territories, and he ruled out the holding of new elections until peace is achieved.
“At this stage of the war, it is being decided who will prevail – whether us over the enemy, or the enemy over us Ukrainians… and Europeans, and everyone in the world who wants to live freely and not be subject to a dictator.”
Zelenskiy set out what he called a “resilience plan” for the country as a domestic foil to the “victory plan” he pitched to Western allies earlier in the autumn, and said it was needed to force Russia to negotiate an end to the war in good faith.
Though he said the full details of the plan would be disclosed later in the year, it comprises steps to stabilise the front line, support military innovation and arms production as well as measures to shore up national unity and cultural identity.
“Unity is the first point of our internal Resilience Plan,” he said.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine would produce at least 30,000 long-range drones next year, a weapons system that Kyiv has used to narrow the gap in strike capabilities with Russia and to strike targets deep inside its much larger, eastern neighbour.
Ukraine has sought to beef up military industrial production since Russia launched its February 2022 invasion, and Zelenskiy said 40 foreign arms manufacturers were already working in the Ukrainian weapons production sector.
Ukraine also aims to produce at least 3,000 cruise missile and missile-drones, he said, without providing a timeframe.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Gareth Jones)