Ukraine has warned its western allies that only expedited deliveries of arms and air defence systems will “force Russia to seek peace”.
Speaking at meeting with western defence ministers at the Ramstein US military base in Germany, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke of “significant” gaps between aid pledges and actual deliveries.
It was the first time Mr Zelenskiy has attended the regular gatherings of the so-called “Ukraine Defence Contact Group”. As Russia stepped up bombardment of Ukrainian cities, including Lviv, Mr Zelenskiy said his country was dependent “on our partners’ determination and means to stop Russia’s aerial terror”.
“The number of [pledged] air defence systems that have not yet been delivered is significant,” said Mr Zelenskiy. “It is crucial that all the weapons from the already announced support packages finally reach the combat brigades.”
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At the 24th such meeting since the Russian invasion in February 2022, US defence minister Lloyd Austin announced another $250 million security package for Ukraine. He praised Ukraine’s surprise military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region for putting “the Kremlin’s army of aggression now on the defensive on its own turf”.
Mr Austin conceded that not even these massive losses had halted Russia’s eastern offensive, but he insisted Ukraine’s allies were “laser-focused” on Kyiv’s needs.
His German counterpart Boris Pistorius announced the transfer to Ukraine of 12 self-propelled howitzer artillery cannons.
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, Mr Pistorius said he was “a little bit disappointed” that more air defence systems had not yet made their way to Ukraine. “We agreed in Washington to deliver more Patriot systems, air defence systems of any kind,” he said, “and up until now they haven’t yet arrived in Kyiv.”
On Thursday the UK pledged to send 650 lightweight missiles, worth €192 million, to help defend Kyiv against Russian drones. UK defence minister John Healy said the missiles, with a range of 6km, “will give an important boost to Ukraine’s air defences” when they are delivered in December.
Meanwhile European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen presented a €40 million aid package to help support repair works to Ukraine’s war-torn energy infrastructure ahead of the winter, along with shelters for people left homeless by Russian bombing.
“Russia is relentlessly targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure,” wrote Dr von der Leyen on Twitter/X. “Temperatures will soon go down so we are stepping up our humanitarian aid to Ukrainians in need.”
As Moscow makes slow but brutal advances in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, Mr Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region last month had reduced the Russian threat in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.
As well as seeking more weapons Ukrainian officials are pressing their western allies for more flexibility on how it uses their weapons systems inside Russia. In Ramstein Mr Zelenskiy demanded “strong, long-range decisions from our partners to bring closer the just peace we are striving for”.
Last week Ukraine presented the Biden administration with a list of targets it wishes to strike inside Russian territory. Days later Russia launched attacks that killed dozens and injured more than 200 people in Poltava in central Ukraine, one of the deadliest single attacks since the beginning of the war.
While Germany and other Nato members are wary of anything that might trigger a wider conflict, Canada’s defence minister Bill Blair said Ottawa supports Ukraine’s request. “They are suffering significant attacks from airbases and military installations located within Russia,” he said in Ramstein. “Those attacks are aimed towards their cities, their citizenry, and their critical infrastructure.”
After the Ramstein meeting Mr Zelenskiy had separate negotiations with chancellor Olaf Scholz in Frankfurt before heading to an economic forum in Italy and talks with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
