Zelensky to present peace plan to Biden, Harris, Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that he would eventually present a peace plan to President Biden and the current White House candidates, Vice President Harris and former President Trump. 

Zelensky, speaking at a news conference in Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, touched on the four-stage plan, saying the country’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was the first pillar. 

“Second direction is Ukraine’s strategic place in the security infrastructure of the world,” Zelensky said, according to CNN. “Third direction is the powerful package of forcing Russia to end the war in a diplomatic way, and the fourth direction is economical.”

Ukraine’s leader said he plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September. While there, he plans to meet with Biden and will present the plan. Due to the uncertainty of who is going to win the 2024 election, Zelensky said he planned to share the plan with both Trump, the GOP nominee, and Harris, the newly-minted Democratic nominee. 

Ukraine’s surprise incursion, which started earlier this month, forced Russia to divert some troops from parts of eastern Ukraine to the Kursk region, according to Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi. 

Syrskyi, Ukraine’s commander in chief, claimed the silent counteroffensive caused Russia to move 30,000 troops to the Kursk area. The Hill cannot independently verify the number. He added that Ukraine’s army claimed nearly 500 miles of Russian territory in Kursk.

Despite Ukraine’s advance inside Russia, the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, said his military would press ahead with the offensive in Donetsk. Russia’s pressure in Pokrovsk and Toretsk has forced evacuations, and a potential complete takeover would fortify its post in eastern Donbas.