'Peace through threats': Zelensky pushes for weapons, NATO membership

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday he wants to create a "peace through threats" approach to force Russia into negotiations.

This means placing missile installations on Ukrainian land as a form of deterrence, Zelensky said, after an exchange with European Union leaders in Brussels.

Ukraine has asked France, Germany, the United States, Britain and Italy to supply the weapons, he said.

Zelensky said Ukraine would only use the missiles "if Russia does not stop the war."

The Ukrainian president is in Brussels to present his much-anticipated "victory plan" to end the war with Russia to the EU and NATO.

In his plan, Zelensky also wants NATO membership for Ukraine and all restrictions lifted on the use of long-range Western-supplied weapons in Russia.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz however has refused to deliver Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles, which have a range of about 500 kilometres, fearing an escalation of the conflict.

Zelensky appealed again to Scholz to change his mind. The Ukrainian president said that even by providing the weapons without permission to use them, Germany would show support for his "victory plan."

NATO's Ukraine question

Germany, along with the United States, also has escalation concerns over admitting Ukraine into NATO, fearing that could widen the war to current members of the western military alliance.

Zelensky refuted this belief, arguing that an invitation to join NATO would not represent an escalation and that actions should follow words "if you really want Ukraine to be part of NATO."

The Ukrainian president also said US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump agreed with his arguments to support Ukraine joining NATO.

According to Zelensky, Trump told him in their recent meeting that he had "good arguments" to let Ukraine join the Western defence alliance. "I think that Donald Trump heard me," he said.

Zelensky raised the option of nuclear armament for Ukraine in a hypothetical scenario should his country fail to join NATO over a veto from allies.

Zelensky at NATO

Zelensky is to later join a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels where his vision will likely be met with hesitation by the alliance's defence ministers.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday gave a cautious answer to Zelensky's "victory plan" announced ahead of the meeting, calling for NATO membership, noting that he cannot "support the whole plan."

Arriving at NATO on Thursday, Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas said however that inviting Ukraine to join NATO was not the same as membership and represents instead "the first stage."

Kasčiūnas stressed that it was important for NATO to send a message of support to Ukraine ahead of the winter in the face of creeping Russian gains in the east of the country.

Ukraine to face "dangerous winter"

Next to support for his "victory plan", the Ukrainian president pleaded with EU leaders for more financial and military aid ahead of what he called a "dangerous winter."

"We did our homework," Zelensky said, but despite Kiev's efforts to prepare for the upcoming colder months, Ukraine needed further assistance.

Air defence and financial support to also help Ukraine's domestic arms production are most urgently needed, said Zelensky.

The EU has been supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia, but Kremlin-friendly Hungary has been blocking further military and financial aid to Kiev for months.

"Your unity is also a weapon, and it's a weapon that means one thing for all of us, safety," Zelensky said, addressing the bloc's 27 leaders.