Russia says Zelenskiy 'victory plan' is pushing NATO towards direct conflict with Moscow

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday denounced a "victory plan" presented by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, saying he was trying to push NATO into a direct conflict with Moscow.

In his speech, Zelenskiy called on his allies to take urgent steps to bolster Kyiv at a precarious moment in a bid to end the conflict with Russia next year.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters the plan Zelenskiy unveiled to his parliament would lead to disaster for the Ukrainian people.

"He is pushing NATO into direct conflict with our country," Zakharova said, adding that Zelenskiy could not rely on his Western partners.

"I can simply tell Zelenskiy, if he is not aware... The partners of the Kyiv regime have already demonstrated how they see Ukraine in the security architecture: they see Ukraine in a coffin and Ukrainian citizens in the grave as well."

Russia has long accused the West of exploiting Ukraine to wage a proxy war against Moscow. The United States and its NATO allies say they are helping Ukraine defend itself against an unjustified colonial-style land grab.

Zakharova recalled a warning by President Vladimir Putin last month that the West would be fighting Russia directly if it allowed Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia with Western-supplied long-range missiles.

Putin warned at the time that Moscow would be forced to take unspecified "appropriate measures" in such a scenario.

Zakharova said Zelenskiy therefore knew "perfectly well" what his appeals to NATO would lead to.

The Kremlin said earlier on Wednesday that it was too early to comment in detail on the Zelenskiy plan but that Kyiv needed to "sober up" and realise the futility of the policies it was pursuing.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Andrew Osborn)