Ukraine receives new arms commitments from Europe

Shortly before his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received promises from European allies for even more arms aid. Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his British colleague John Healey announced this at the meeting of the NATO heads of department in Brussels.

Germany and Ukraine are planning even closer cooperation in their defense industries and in promoting research and technology development. The agreement will further strengthen Ukraine’s defense and deterrence capabilities and enable the Federal Republic to benefit from Ukraine’s innovation potential, said Pistorius when signing an agreement with his Ukrainian colleague Denys Shmyhal at NATO headquarters.

British Defense Secretary John Healey announced that Britain would work with Ukraine to develop improved interceptor drones. These would then be produced en masse in the UK and sent to Ukraine by the thousands each month. The United Kingdom has already delivered 85,000 drones to Ukraine this year to defend against Russia’s war of aggression, it said.

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth increased the pressure on the Kremlin and threatened to make the war really expensive for Russia. Russia again attacked targets in Ukraine during the night.

On Friday, Zelensky wants to get approval from the Trump White House for the sale of Tomahawk cruise missiles to his country, which have a range of around 2,500 kilometers. The deal could be financed by NATO partners. The Kremlin strongly warned the US government against such a delivery. Russia’s ex-president and Security Council deputy head Dmitry Medvedev even hinted at a possible counter-reaction with nuclear weapons.

Ukraine has been defending itself against Russia’s invasion with Western help for more than three and a half years. Zelensky repeatedly emphasizes that the only way to force the Russian leadership to give in is to adopt a policy of strength.

Before the conversation with Trump, Zelenskyj was optimistic. Their meeting could really help end the war, he said in his evening video message. “Only the United States can exert such global influence, and we are doing everything we can to ensure that other countries around the world support us.” The agenda for the meeting in Washington is promising. “We did our share of homework before meeting with President Trump – both military and economic,” Zelensky assured.

A Ukrainian delegation in the USA prepared the conversation with Trump, and there were also meetings with US defense and energy companies. Both Patriot anti-aircraft systems and Tomahawk cruise missiles are suitable for “laying a lasting foundation for peace,” Zelenskyj concluded his speech.

His upcoming conversation with Trump in the Oval Office brings back memories of an unprecedented scandal in February. The US President and his deputy JD Vance had brusquely reprimanded the Ukrainian head of state in front of the cameras – Zelenskyj then left earlier than planned. On August 18, the two heads of state met again in the White House – in a much more relaxed atmosphere. In recent weeks, Trump has also made his displeasure with Russia’s ongoing warfare clear several times.

Pentagon chief Hegseth has now said that if there is no peace soon, the United States, together with its allies, will take the necessary steps to make the war really expensive for Russia. The costs of Moscow’s ongoing aggression against Kyiv would have to be increased. Hegseth had previously said that he expected NATO to have more “firepower” in the future.

Like Zelensky, he also emphasized that peace can be achieved by being “strong.” Hegseth also pointed out that European countries are now buying US weapons to defend themselves in the Ukraine war.

According to authorities, two people were injured in a Russian drone attack in the northeastern Ukrainian region of Chernihiv overnight. In the attack on the city of Nizhyn, the branch of a postal company, two residential buildings and civil infrastructure were damaged, among other things, said Governor Vyacheslav Tschaus on Telegram.

According to the Russian occupation administration, at least one person was killed in an attack in Horlivka in eastern Ukraine. Two others were injured, the head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, said on Telegram. The Ukrainian side attacked with rocket launchers and drones.

More than 70 percent of the Donetsk region is controlled by Russia. Including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, almost a fifth of Ukrainian territory is under Russian control.

In the evening, emergency power cuts were ordered across the country in Ukraine. “The reason for the restrictions introduced is the consequences of previous Russian attacks on the energy infrastructure,” the Energy Ministry in Kiev said via Telegram. According to the electricity supplier DTEK, the restrictions were lifted late in the evening, at least for Kiev, the surrounding area of ​​the capital and the Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa regions.

The attacks on energy systems are also problematic for the population because winter is approaching. In large parts of Ukraine, nighttime temperatures are already falling into the lower single digits.