Kyiv, Jan 5: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will again call on allies to boost his country’s air defences at a meeting this week in Germany, as US President-elect Donald Trump takes over later this month with a vow to end the almost three-year war quickly.
Zelenskyy said that dozens of partner countries will participate in the meeting of the Ramstein group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Thursday, “including those who can help boost our capabilities not only to defend against missiles but also against guided bombs and Russian aviation”.
“We will discuss this with them and continue to persuade them,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Saturday.
“The task remains unchanged: strengthening our air defence.”
US Defence Secretary Lloyd J. Austin will attend the meeting, which had originally been due to take place in October and to be attended by US President Joe Biden. It was postponed because of response to Hurricane Milton that battered the US.
In its last few weeks in office, the Biden administration has been pressing to send as much military aid as possible to Ukraine before Trump is sworn in January 20.
Trump claimed during his election campaign that he could end the war in one day and his comments have put a question mark over whether the United States will continue to be Ukraine’s biggest – and most important – military backer.
Zelenskyy said last week that Trump is “strong and unpredictable”, and those qualities can be a decisive factor in his policy approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine, and capitalised last year on weaknesses in Ukraine’s defences to slowly advance in eastern areas despite high losses of troops and equipment. The war’s trajectory isn’t in Ukraine’s favour. The country is shorthanded on the front line and needs continued support from its Western partners.
Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Russian and North Korean troops had suffered heavy losses in the fighting in Russia’s Kursk region.
“In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka, in the Kursk region, the Russian army lost up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroopers,” Zelenskyy said. “This is significant.” (AP)
