Brussels, Feb 9 (AFP\/APP): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s tour of European capitals brings him to Brussels on Thursday to lobby EU leaders for jets and long-range weapons to shore up his defences against the Russian invasion.<\/p>\n
After almost a year of the most brutal combat on European soil in decades, Kiev’s unlikely war leader, a former television actor, has made only two trips abroad to rally Kiev’s Western allies.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, he met UK leaders in London and inspected Ukrainian troops training on western war gear, then flew on to Paris to dine with President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz.<\/p>\n
After arriving in Brussels, he is to make a much-anticipated address to the European Parliament, then attend the regular summit of the 27 European
\nUnion heads of state and government.<\/p>\n
Arriving at the talks, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said: “It’s very important that we speed up military aid to Ukraine. I think all of us looked in the warehouses at what we have. But we should do more.”<\/p>\n
The NATO and EU powers of Europe have been, along with the United States, the main backers of Ukraine’s beleaguered defenders since President Vladimir Putin’s Russia unleashed a full-scale invasion.<\/p>\n
Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was proud to show Zelensky the Challenger tanks London is dispatching to Ukraine alongside German-built Leopards to reinforce Kiev’s forces.<\/p>\n
The EU leaders will also tout the 67 billion euros ($72 billion) they have spent on military and financial aid to Kiev, including funds spent on hosting four million Ukrainian refugees.<\/p>\n
But Zelensky has more to ask. Ukraine’s army is facing a renewed Russian offensive and its commanders want modern western fighter jets to free its skies from Moscow’s raiders.<\/p>\n
“The sooner Ukraine gets long-range heavy weaponry, the sooner our pilots get planes, the sooner this Russian aggression will end and we can return to peace in Europe,” Zelensky said in Paris.<\/p>\n
“There is very little time,” he warned.<\/p>\n
Macron and Scholz pledged that Europe would back Ukraine until its eventual victory.<\/p>\n
“Ukraine can count on France, its European partners and its allies to win the war. Russia cannot and must not prevail,” Macron said.<\/p>\n
Scholz said Germany and its partners had backed Ukraine “financially, with humanitarian aid and with weapons”, adding: “We will continue to do so as long as necessary.”<\/p>\n
As the one-year anniversary of Russia’s February 24 invasion looms, Zelensky is pushing ever harder for friendly nations to send tanks, jets and missiles.<\/p>\n
Britain has promised to train Ukrainian pilots and has said it would consider the proposal for combat aircraft in the “long term”.<\/p>\n
The United States and other NATO allies are nevertheless wary of provoking Russian into an uncontrolled escalation that could draw in western forces.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Zelensky — dressed in his usual olive green military-style garb — received waves of applause as he made a historic address to both the lower and upper houses of the British parliament.<\/p>\n
“I appeal to you and the world… for combat aircrafts for Ukraine. Wings for freedom,” he said.<\/p>\n
Sunak’s office said he had tasked the defence secretary with “investigating what jets we might be able to give but, to be clear, this is a long-term solution rather than a short-term capability.”<\/p>\n
Speaking alongside Zelensky in front of a British tank, Sunak said that “nothing is off the table” for Ukraine, including combat aircraft.<\/p>\n
“Of course they are part of the conversation,” he said, but held back from giving a concrete commitment to provide fighter planes.<\/p>\n
Zelensky said jets had been discussed and reiterated his call for longer-range missiles.<\/p>\n
Russia subsequently said there would be a “response” from Moscow should Britain supply aircraft to Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Moscow says Russian forces were advancing towards Bakhmut and Vugledar — two key centres of fighting in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, now the flashpoint of the war.<\/p>\n
Updated maps of Russia have gone on sale in Moscow bookstores that include four annexed Ukrainian regions: Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Lugansk and Donetsk. Putin regularly refers to them as “our historical lands”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brussels, Feb 9 (AFP\/APP): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s tour of European capitals brings him to Brussels on Thursday to lobby EU leaders for jets and long-range weapons to shore up his defences against the Russian invasion. After almost a year of the most brutal combat […]<\/p>\n
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