Zelenskyy meets top military leaders in Germany as the US announces additional aid for Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Friday with top United States military leaders and more than 50 partner nations in Germany to press for more weapons support as Washington announced it would provide another $250 million in security assistance to Kyiv.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the meeting of the leaders was taking place during a dynamic moment in Ukraine바카라 게임 웹사이트s fight against Russia, as it conducts its first offensive operations of the war while facing a significant threat from Russian forces near a key hub in the Donbas.
It was Zelenskyy's first time to come to Ramstein to address the group, and he used the public appearance to stress that, in his view, what's needed most now is for the U.S. and the West to allow him to use the weapons they provided to strike deeper inside Russia 바카라 게임 웹사이트 something the U.S. has not supported out of concern it would further escalate the war.
바카라 게임 웹사이트We need to have this long-range capability, not only on the divided territory of Ukraine, but also on the Russian territory, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Zelenskyy told the members. 바카라 게임 웹사이트We need to make Russian cities and even Russian soldiers think about what they need: peace or Putin.바카라 게임 웹사이트
So far, the surprise assault inside Russia바카라 게임 웹사이트s Kursk territory 바카라 게임 웹사이트 in which Zelenskyy said Ukraine's army has been able to capture about 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) of Russian territory and kill or injure about 6,000 Russian soldiers 바카라 게임 웹사이트 has not drawn away President Vladimir Putin바카라 게임 웹사이트s focus from taking the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, which provides critical rail and supply links for the Ukrainian army. Losing Pokrovsk could put additional Ukrainian cities at risk.
While Kursk has put Russia on the defensive, 바카라 게임 웹사이트we know Putin바카라 게임 웹사이트s malice runs deep,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Austin cautioned in prepared remarks to the media before the Ukraine Defense Contact Group met. Moscow is pressing on, especially around Pokrovsk, Austin said.
Recent deadly airstrikes by Russia have renewed Zelenskyy바카라 게임 웹사이트s calls for the U.S. to further loosen restrictions and obtain even greater Western capabilities to strike deeper inside Russia. However, the meeting Friday was expected to focus on resourcing more air defense and artillery supplies and shoring up gains on expanding Ukraine바카라 게임 웹사이트s own defense industrial base, to put it on more solid footing as the final days of Joe Biden's U.S. presidency wind down.
Western partner nations were working with Ukraine to source a substitute missile for its Soviet-era S-300 air defense systems, Austin said.
The U.S. is also focused on resourcing a variety of air-to-ground missiles that the newly delivered F-16 fighter jets can carry, including the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, which could give Ukraine a longer-range cruise missile option, said Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon바카라 게임 웹사이트s top weapons buyer, who spoke to reporters traveling with Austin.
No decisions on the munition have been made, LaPlante said, noting that policymakers would still have to decide whether to give Ukraine the longer-range capability.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I would just put JASSM in that category, it바카라 게임 웹사이트s something that is always being looked at,바카라 게임 웹사이트 LaPlante said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트Anything that바카라 게임 웹사이트s an air-to-ground weapon is always being looked at.바카라 게임 웹사이트
For the past two years, members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group have met to resource Ukraine바카라 게임 웹사이트s mammoth artillery and air defense needs, ranging from hundreds of millions of rounds of small arms ammunition to some of the West바카라 게임 웹사이트s most sophisticated air defense systems, and now fighter jets. The ask this month was more of the same 바카라 게임 웹사이트 but different in that it was in person, and followed a similar in-person visit Thursday in Kyiv by Biden's Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer as Zelenskyy shores up U.S. support before the administration changes.
Since 2022, the member nations together have provided about $106 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. The U.S. has provided more than $56 billion of that total.
The German government said Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to meet Zelenskyy in Frankfurt on Friday afternoon.
