Russia on Friday dismissed a "victory plan" elaborated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a gambit to keep the West onside and said it had nothing to do with the search for a diplomatic or political solution to end the war.

"We think it lays out a strategy and a plan that can work," a top U.S. diplomat said during a news briefing on Tuesday.

Zelenskiy told a joint press conference with von der Leyen that Ukraine planned to use a proposed multi-billion dollar European Union loan for air defense, energy and domestic weapons purchases