Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky requested NATO allies on Wednesday for more weaponry and air defenses to get his nation through a winter of Russian assaults on power plants and other infrastructure.
Zelensky visited NATO’s headquarters in Brussels for the first time since Russia invaded the country last year, at a time when the U.S. Congress is in disarray and the world’s focus is gradually shifting on a bloody war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
In a brief press conference with the Alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Zelensky stressed that air defense systems continue to be a top priority in light of the possibility of another Russian missile campaign against Ukrainian energy infrastructure this winter.
“Next Monday, we will mark the 600th day of our resistance to Russia’s full scale aggression against our people, against Ukraine. And today, no one can say for sure how many more days we will have to defend our independence and to defend our identity,” Zelenskyy told in its opening statements. “But we can already say several things which I think are important. First, Putin will not achieve Ukraine. Second, Russia cannot afford a new arms race. And third, democracy can win this battle.”
Zelensky also made direct analogies between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and argued that Western military assistance was essential.
“Terrorists like Putin or like Hamas seek to hold free and democratic nations as hostages and they want power,” he said. “(Russia) still has enough resources to incite conflicts and turn them into full-scale tragedies and this is happening in Sahel. And it can happen even more painfully in Israel and in the Middle East.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed the West’s commitment to aiding Ukraine for as long as necessary and unveiled a fresh $200 million defense package for the country, including equipment to fend off Russian drones and air defense bombs.
Since Russia’s invasion, Washington has already given Kyiv $44 billion to buy hundreds of tanks, thousands of rocket launchers, and millions of rounds of ammunition, but support is dwindling among Americans of both major political parties – especially among Republican presidential candidates.
“The energy, in my view, is still there,” Austin said. “And I will reassure them that we remain committed to this.”
The latest wave of American assistance includes AIM-9M air defense missiles, counter-drone systems, munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), artillery, electronic warfare gear, demolition munitions, anti-armor weapons, and more than 16 million rounds of small arms ammunition.
A further $122 million in fresh aid was promised by Britain, including mine-clearing equipment that Ukraine is hoping would enable it to breach Russian front-line fortifications. Additionally, Britain said that it will deploy an extra $86 million in air defense systems as part of a previously disclosed contract for the MSI-DS Terrahawk Paladin.
“Your fight is our fight. Your security is our security, and your values are our values,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. “And we will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Later on Wednesday, the 31 members of NATO and Ukraine will participate in the first-ever NATO-Ukraine Council – a forum formally launched in July in a move to push Kyiv closer to the alliance.
