UKRAINIAN President Volodymyr Zelensky said today that his plan to win his country’s fight against Russia’s invasion could bring peace next year.

But his plan contains the proposal that Ukraine should be invited to join Nato before the war ends, a step that some crucial Western allies have so far refused to agree to.

“If we start moving according to this victory plan now, it may be possible to end the war no later than next year,” Mr Zelensky told his country’s parliament.

He has recently been trying to win approval for the plan from Western partners, who so far have stopped short of publicly voicing their support for it.

Mr Zelensky said that granting Ukraine membership in the alliance would be a “testament of determination” to support Ukraine.

But the step appears too ambitious.

Nato’s collective security guarantee is a political commitment by all member countries to come to the aid of any member whose sovereignty or territory might be under attack.

Many allies refuse to allow Ukraine into Nato while fighting continues because they fear being dragged into a wider war with Russia.

Rather than invite Ukraine to join the military bloc there are signs that Western support for Kiev may be waning, diminished by a focus on the Middle East and domestic political concerns, particularly the US elections.