Zelensky raised the issue of long-range weapons during a briefing with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands / Photo by the Office of the President (https://24tv.ua/)
Zelenskiy says West should permit long-range attacks, supply weapons to carry them out
Reuters: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday Ukraine's Western allies should not only allow their weapons to be used for strikes deep inside Russia, but also supply Kyiv with more of the arms themselves.
Ukraine has long urged partners to allow it to fire Western weapons at targets far into enemy territory, and those calls have grown louder as Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian energy installations, other infrastructure and residential buildings intensify.
After a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday, Zelenskiy said Kyiv was "more positive" about the prospects of getting such permission.
"For today, only to allow – is also not enough," he said, adding that allies should ensure deliveries of weapons to use for such attacks. "We didn't get everything we would like to use," Zelenskiy added.
Zelenskiy added that some agreements on supplies had not been fulfilled.
He said he discussed with Schoof strengthening Ukraine's air defences. He mentioned there were "some ideas" on how to increase the fleet of F-16 jets donated by allies, one of which was lost in a crash in Ukraine last week.
"We will keep providing air defence equipment, and F-16s, and funding for munitions," Schoof said.
Schoof added that the Netherlands would provide Ukraine with around 200 million euros ($221.4 million) in support to repair energy infrastructure and for humanitarian assistance.
The Netherlands will deliver refurbished gas turbines with a total value of 29.5 million euros and has allocated 45 million euros for repairing energy infrastructure, the Dutch foreign ministry said in a statement.
The money comes from a 400-million-euro aid fund the Dutch government pledged to Ukraine earlier this year.
Zelenskiy also commented on the situation on front lines, saying that Ukraine's cross-border incursion into Russia's western region of Kursk was moving "according to the plan".
He added that Ukraine believed the operation could help to ease pressure on the Pokrovsk front in Ukraine's east, where Russia has accelerated its advances.
So far, he said, the situation there remained difficult.
-
- In World
- 3 September 2024 10:12
In World
-
Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for sending its troops to support Russia's war efforts against Ukraine, a top South Korean official said Friday.
-
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te will visit Taipei's three remaining diplomatic allies in the Pacific on a trip starting at the end of the month, his office said on Friday, but the government declined to give details on U.S. transit stops.
-
Russia is ready to consider any "realistic" peace initiative on the conflict in Ukraine which takes into account Russia's own interests and the situation on the ground, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
-
China is willing to conduct active dialogue with the United States based on the principles of mutual respect and promote the development of bilateral economic and trade relations, vice commerce minister Wang Shouwen said on Friday.
Leave a review