Zelensky: We Have a Plan to Force Putin to Stop the War
The Ukrainian president announced a joint strategy with allies to pressure Moscow, while Russian media claim it's a propaganda war and an attempt to scare Russians with mobilization.
The Ukrainian president announced a joint strategy with allies to pressure Moscow, while Russian media claim it's a propaganda war and an attempt to scare Russians with mobilization.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, that Ukraine and its international partners have a joint plan to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war. He made the statement at the annual Ukrainian Youth Forum, as reported by the Kyiv Independent.
"Putin does not want to stop this war, but he will stop it. We have a plan," Zelensky said. According to him, the strategy is based on joint pressure on the Russian leader, but he did not disclose the details of the plan to the public.
Zelensky emphasized that the Ukrainian military must hold defensive positions and continue strikes on Russian territory. At the same time, he called on partners to increase deliveries of air defense systems, especially PAC-3 Patriot interceptors, which are crucial for shooting down Russian ballistic missiles that regularly hit Kyiv and other cities.
In a statement to Operatyvny ZSU, Zelensky clarified: "We understand what we need to do. It is a joint plan with our partners on how to pressure him." He added that if the situation on the battlefield is not "strong enough," the dialogue could turn into excessive compromises.
As part of the pressure on Moscow, Ukrainian forces have liberated 745 square kilometers of Russian-occupied territory along a section of the southeastern front this year, Zelensky posted on X. "This offensive operation of ours was carried out precisely, exactly according to plan," he wrote, crediting the air assault forces and other units. According to him, 26 settlements in the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts have been brought back under Kyiv's control, located along a roughly 60-kilometer stretch of the front line where the borders of these three regions meet.
Russian media immediately dismissed Zelensky. NTV correspondent Munz told Slavyangrad that the Ukrainian president has no evidence of a new mobilization and that it is a propaganda war. "Zelensky naturally wants to scare Russians, and he knows that this is being discussed here and that many are also afraid of a new mobilization," Munz said.
Zelensky earlier claimed on X (formerly Twitter) that Putin plans to mobilize several hundred thousand Russians by the end of the year, and the same number next year. He said this could happen after the Russian parliamentary elections in September 2026, after, as he claims, Putin removed the Yabloko party from the ballot to avoid any peace option.
"If Putin wants war so much that he has now resorted to another political manipulation with his fake elections, to the point that he was afraid to allow even one party that said anything about the need for peace on the ballot, then his priorities are crystal clear," Zelensky wrote.
In his evening address on August 11, 2026, Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian negotiators had submitted their proposals to end the war to the American side. However, the Washington-led talks have been stalled for months, and Kyiv and Moscow are far from an agreement on territorial issues.
Russia has repeatedly rejected Ukrainian calls for a ceasefire along the current front lines and demands the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, which is unacceptable to Kyiv. Despite this, the Ukrainian leadership hopes that the active phase of the war could end before winter, which would likely bring a new wave of attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
On August 8, 2026, Zelensky was in Belgrade, where he met with the Serbian president at the Palace of Serbia, as captured by AFP photographer Andrej Isakovic.
