Ukraine’s Zelenskiy to Present ‘Victory Plan’ at Ramstein Meeting

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepares to address the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 25, 2024. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepares to address the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy to Present ‘Victory Plan’ at Ramstein Meeting

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepares to address the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 25, 2024. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy prepares to address the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 25, 2024. (Reuters)

Ukraine will present its "victory plan" at a regular meeting of its allies at Ramstein in Germany on October 12, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram on Saturday.

"We will present the victory plan, clear, specific steps for a just end to the war," he wrote.

Ukraine, which has been fending off an invasion from much larger neighbor Russia for nearly 1,000 days, has in recent months teased a plan to end the war.

The details have not been made public, but Zelenskiy presented it to US President Joe Biden, as well as both major candidates running in the country's presidential election, when he visited Washington last month.

The US State Department spokesman said the plan contained "a number of productive steps" which the US would engage with Ukraine on.

However, the Wall Street Journal newspaper cited anonymous US officials as saying that the plan was a repackaged request for more weapons and a lifting of restrictions on the use of long-range missiles, and lacked a comprehensive strategy.



Series of Ethiopia Earthquakes Trigger Evacuations

People view a truck that fell off the Gelan Bridge as it was returning from a wedding ceremony in the southern Sidama region of Ethiopia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Str)
People view a truck that fell off the Gelan Bridge as it was returning from a wedding ceremony in the southern Sidama region of Ethiopia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Str)
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Series of Ethiopia Earthquakes Trigger Evacuations

People view a truck that fell off the Gelan Bridge as it was returning from a wedding ceremony in the southern Sidama region of Ethiopia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Str)
People view a truck that fell off the Gelan Bridge as it was returning from a wedding ceremony in the southern Sidama region of Ethiopia, Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Str)

Evacuations were underway in Ethiopia Saturday after a series of earthquakes, the strongest of which, a 5.8-magnitude jolt, rocked the remote north of the Horn of Africa nation.

The quakes were centered on the largely rural Afar, Oromia and Amhara regions after months of intense seismic activity, AFP reported.

No casualties have been reported so far.

Ethiopia's government Communication Service said around 80,000 people were living in the affected regions and the most vulnerable were being moved to temporary shelters.

"The earthquakes are increasing in terms of magnitude and recurrences," it said in a statement, adding that experts had been dispatched to assess the damage.

The Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission said 20,573 people had been evacuated to safer areas in Afar and Oromia, from a tally of over 51,000 "vulnerable" people.

Plans were underway to move more than 8,000 people in Oromia "in the coming days", the agency said in a statement.

The latest shallow 4.7 magnitude quake hit just before 12:40 pm (0940 GMT) about 33 kilometers north of Metehara town in Oromia, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre.

The earthquakes have damaged houses and threatened to trigger a volcanic eruption of the previously dormant Mount Dofan, near Segento in the northeast Afar region.

The crater has stopped releasing plumes of smoke, but nearby residents have left their homes in panic.

Earthquakes are common in Ethiopia due to its location along the Great Rift Valley, one of the world's most seismically active areas.

Experts have said the tremors and eruptions are being caused by the expansion of tectonic plates under the Great Rift Valley.