In the last weeks, Ukraine received intense Russian bombing, to which it responded with attacks against the Russian city of Belgorod, located near the border.
The Russian authorities evacuated almost a hundred children there on Wednesday, reported the governor of this region. Vyacheslav Gladkov.
The tour of Zelensky It also precedes his expected attendance at the World Economic Forum to be held in Davos (Switzerland) next week, according to the agenda released on Tuesday by the organizers and who mention the Ukrainian president in the list of speakers, the news agencies reported. AFP and Europa Press.
Zelensky’s statements
Along with his pair of Latvia, Nauseda Gypsies, Zelensky He said: ”We have to watch Putin’s rhetoric. It’s not going to stop. He wants to occupy us completely”
He then lamented that “sometimes partners’ doubts regarding financial and military aid to Ukraine only increase Russia’s courage and strength,” and also maintained that Putin “will not stop” if Ukraine and his allies “don’t finish him off.”
Zelensky warned that in the event of a Ukrainian defeat, Russia’s other neighbors risk being attacked. ”We have to understand that Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Moldova “They could be the next victims, if we don’t resist.”
Previously, through the social network X, he had declared that “Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are our reliable friends and principled partners. “Today I arrived in Vilnius before going to Tallinn and Riga.”
“Security, the integration of the European Union (EU) and NATO, cooperation in electronic warfare and drones, as well as maintaining the coordination of European support are on the agenda,” he said.
Zelensky’s call for help remains
Zelensky He does not stop asking for military support from his allies and met with representatives of the United States the previous month, Germany and Norway for this matter.
However, a 50 billion euro ($54.75 billion) EU aid program is blocked in Brussels by the veto of Hungary. In USAsending additional aid to kyiv causes divisions in Congress.
The escalation of attacks against Ukraine caused the Lithuanian president, Nauseda, last week asked Western allies to deliver air defense systems to Kyiv.
“The Ukrainians do wonders with Western-supplied air defense, but they need more,” he wrote in X.
This Wednesday, at a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, held at the level of ambassadors, the countries of the military alliance “They made it clear that they will continue to provide Ukraine with important military, economic and humanitarian assistance.“.
According to a brief statement released at the end of that meeting, “several allies outlined plans to provide billions of euros in additional capabilities in 2024,” without offering details.
The Baltic countries, key
Lithuania is the main donor to Ukraine in proportion to their wealth, with government aid representing almost 1.4% of their GDP, according to the German research institute Kiel Institute.
The other two Baltic countries, Estonia and Latviaappear in second and fifth position, with aid equivalent to 1.3 and 1.1% of their GDP respectively.
But the global aid promised to Ukraine between August and October 2023 fell almost 90% compared to the same period in 2022, reaching its lowest level since the start of the war, in February 2022, according to this German institute.
On the visit of Zelensky to Lithuania, Nausea promised a new round of military assistance valued at some 200 million euros.
Source: Ambito
