Zelenskiy and Scholz talk military aid, EU unity on Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskiyhas said that he discussed defense cooperation and the situation in the battlefield with the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
“I am grateful for the powerful ‘winter’ defense package from Germany, including 4 IRIS-T systems and for the multi-year financial assistance program from Germany,” he said.
With a key EU summit coming up in December and fears of a Hungarian veto, the leaders also discussed European aid to Kyiv.
“I emphasized the importance of ensuring unity within the European Union in the issue of endorsement of Ukraine’s accession negotiations and in the allocation of €50 billion in aid for the coming years,” the Ukrainian leader said.
Ukraine ‘will not back down’ against Russia as it urges Western support
‘Ukraine is not going to back down’, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tells NATO foreign ministers.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, centre, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, right, arrive at a NATO foreign ministers' meeting, in Brussels, November 29 [Saul Loeb/Pool via Reuters]
Published On 29 Nov 202329 Nov 2023
Ukraine will forge ahead in the battle against Russia’s invasion, Kyiv’s top diplomat has pledged as he seeks to rally Western support. Ukraine will not “back down” in fighting against the Russian invasion, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told a summit of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, even as its military locked into a bloody stalemate with enemy forces amid signs that the provision of weapons and funding is slowing and that the war in Gaza is limiting global attention.
“We have to continue, we have to keep fighting. Ukraine is not going to back down,” Kuleba said.
“The issue here is not just Ukraine’s security, it is the security and safety of the entire Euro-Atlantic space.”
His entreaty comes amid fears that Western fatigue is setting in over the drawn-out war, and that attention and funding is shifting to the Middle East.
Another $50bn package from the European Union is struggling to pass because of opposition from Hungary, leaving Ukraine concerned about dwindling resources as it heads into the harsh winter.
‘Stay the course’
Despite the funding delays, Western leaders insist they will stand by Ukraine as long as it takes.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said“every single NATO member expressed enduring support for Ukraine” at Wednesday’s summit.
He added that the US is looking for supplemental funding for Ukraine to be approved by Congress in the coming weeks.
As well as funds, Kyiv is in desperate need of ammunition, with the West struggling to keep pace with earlier pledges to supply bullets and shells.
Winter stalemate ??
The Ukraine-focused NATO summit comes as Russian and Ukrainian forces appear to grind to a winter deadlock 22 months into the war. On Wednesday, Ukraine’s military said it had fended off a string of overnight Russian drone and missile attacks. The air force said it destroyed nearly two dozen Russian attack drones and several missiles in the nationwide aerial assault. Russian air defence also destroyed a Ukraine-launched drone flying towards Moscow, the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin, said. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has made significant breakthroughs on the battlefield for weeks as Moscow’s invasion drags on.
The conflict has killed or wounded an estimated 500,000 from both sides.
17 hours ago — Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, insisted his country would not “back down” in its fight, but urged Kyiv's Western allies to be as “resilient” in ...
5 minutes ago — Kuleba said, however, that Ukraine has seen no sign that its Nato allies are tiring of the war or of providing it with support. “I heard a clear 'No' to any ...
17 hours ago — Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, insisted his country would not “back down” in its fight, but urged Kyiv's Western allies to be as “resilient” in ...
3 hours ago — Ukraine 'will not back down' against Russia as it urges Western support. 'Ukraine is not going to back down', official says as Kyiv seeks to ...
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