For weeks, the government in Kiev has been asking its Western allies for more support in the fight against Russia. Now the president is making a personal appeal.
During talks in Germany, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded that Western allies provide more weapons to defend against the Russian invasion. “We need more weapons to drive the Russian troops out of our territory and especially from the Donetsk region,” Zelenskyy said at the opening meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group at the US Ramstein Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate.
He particularly called for weapons with a longer range. “We need these means (…) not only for the occupied territories of Ukraine, but also for the Russian territories in order to motivate Russia to seek peace.”
In addition to Zelensky, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) were also in Ramstein. Austin had invited the members of the contact group, which includes around 50 states, to the conference at the largest US airbase outside the United States.
Ukraine wants peace – unlike Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Zelensky. “We must force Putin to seek peace,” he added. “We must make it so that Russian cities and even Russian soldiers think about the fact that they need real peace.” Putin stands for destruction. “He wants our cities or the ruins that are left of them.”
Meeting with Scholz
Selenskyj was expected to travel from Ramstein to Frankfurt/Main later on Friday. There he is to meet with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Both want to meet for a one-on-one meeting in the early afternoon, a government spokesman confirmed.
This is Zelensky’s fifth visit to Germany since the war began. He last spoke in the Bundestag in Berlin in June. Zelensky was expected in Italy that evening.
The Ukrainian president said in Ramstein that Kiev was “very grateful” for any help received. “I call on you to be more active in working with the air defense systems, and we have already started working with the F-16 (fighter jets),” he stressed. “They shoot down missiles and drones very effectively, but there are only a few of them. You know that. We need a much stronger air fleet of F-16s.”
“We must force Putin to seek peace”
The world has enough defense systems to ensure that “Russian terror” does not cause any damage. “I will not speak publicly about the number of air defense systems that we have received, but the number of air defense systems that have not been delivered is significant.”
Austin: Additional US aid package for Ukraine
Austin said allies must increase their support. It is a “critical moment.” US President Joe Biden has signed an additional aid package for Ukraine worth 250 million US dollars (around 225 million euros), Austin said.
It is the 24th meeting of the Contact Group, although most of the discussions took place as video conferences. Russia has been waging a war of aggression against its neighboring country Ukraine since February 24, 2022. The West is supporting Kyiv in its defense, including with extensive arms deliveries.
Source: Stern
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