Zelensky travels across Europe asking for military aid

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Lerato Khumalo

War in Ukraine

Zelensky travels across Europe asking for military aid

Updated 10/10/2024 – 4:39 p.mReading time: 3 minutes

Enlarge the imageUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj again called for the release of long-range weapons in talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. (Source: Kin Cheung/Pool AP/AP/dpa/dpa-bilder)

Ukraine is under heavy pressure from the Russian attackers at the front. In Europe, President Zelenskyj is now looking for further support for his so-called victory plan.

With a marathon visit across Europe, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is trying to mobilize the last reserves of aid for his country’s defensive battle against Russia. One day before his planned visit to Berlin, London, Paris and Rome were on the agenda. In the British capital, Prime Minister Keir Starmer received his state guest on the doorstep of the government headquarters at 10 Downing Street.

After the conversation, Zelensky said that the so-called victory plan he was pushing was about creating conditions “for a just end to the war.” He thanked Great Britain for its continued support in national defense and specifically mentioned the supply of long-range weapons.

In recent weeks, the Ukrainian head of state has repeatedly pushed for the release of British Storm Shadow and, above all, US missiles to bombard Russian military objects and airfields that serve as a base for attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. According to authorities, eight people were killed in a Russian missile attack on port infrastructure in the Odessa region on Wednesday evening.

By a just end to the war, Zelenskyj means the withdrawal of Russian troops from the occupied territories. The Ukrainian leadership firmly rejected an Italian media report that it was ready for a ceasefire with Russia along the current front line. “This is untrue,” said Dmytro Lytwyn, Zelensky’s advisor and speechwriter, according to the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

The Italian daily “Corriere della Sera” had previously written without citing sources that Zelensky was ready for a ceasefire on the current front line without recognizing this line as the official border. In return, the West should commit to security guarantees and rapid EU accession for Ukraine.

“There is certainly no concept of exchanging land for security guarantees. Or other exchange formats,” commented Mykhailo Podoljak, advisor to the head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak. “Without Russia’s defeat, there are no effective security guarantees and no one will promise them.”

Together with Starmer, Zelensky also met the new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in London. Only a week ago, during his inaugural visit to Kiev, Rutte assured Zelensky that he would continue to support the Western military alliance. In London, Rutte dismissed fears that Ukraine would lose the help of its most important military ally if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election. Trump also understands that Ukraine’s fight is also “about the security and future security of the United States,” said Rutte.

Zelensky’s visit to London is part of a tour of several European capitals after the Ukraine solidarity summit in Ramstein, originally planned for Saturday, was postponed. Zelensky flew on to Paris that afternoon. French President Emmanuel Macron is waiting for him there for talks in the Élysée Palace.

He will then travel to Rome for an evening meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. According to the Vatican, an audience with Pope Francis is on the agenda for Friday. The Vatican had already mediated prisoner exchanges between Moscow and Kyiv. Afterwards, Zelenskyj comes to Berlin. He will be received there by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

As in London, the main topic of all talks is likely to be the request for further military aid and the release of long-range weapons for attacks on Russian territory. Anti-aircraft weapons are still particularly needed in Ukraine in order to better protect the energy infrastructure, which is being systematically attacked by Russia. The strikes against the airfields are also intended to make it more difficult for Russia to conduct the bombing campaign.

Moscow not only uses glide bombs against cities, but also to destroy well-developed defensive positions of the Ukrainian armed forces. So far, Kiev has not found a way to break this air superiority.

This is also why the Ukrainian troops at the front in the east of the country are under great pressure. The Russian military is using its current preponderance of personnel and material to advance specifically in the Donetsk region. At the beginning of October, the Ukrainian army had to abandon the strategically important city of Vuhledar. The mining settlement, which was converted into a fortress, was heavily fought over since the beginning of the war. In the attempts to take Wuhledar, Russian troops suffered heavy losses in the autumn and winter of 2022/23.

With the fall of the city, a route to Kurachowe also opened up for Russian troops from the south. This city, along with Pokrovsk, was recently considered one of the main areas of attack for the Moscow military. The Ukrainians were recently able to slow down their advance from the east.