Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Russia and Ukraine
Zelensky’s speech expressed exceptional, frank frustration
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Europe on Thursday to boost supplies of modern weapons, speed up their dispatch and impose tougher sanctions on Russia.
Zelensky said in a drawn-out, blistering video address to EU leaders that it was up to the 27-nation bloc to take action to contain Russia, more than a year after its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (archive from Reuters)
Ukrainian officials have been urging partners to increase arms supplies, but Zelensky’s speech was an expression of outright frustration.
“If Europe waits, it may have time for evil to regroup and prepare for years of war. You can prevent this,” Zelensky said, addressing EU leaders who held talks with Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general.
He said that it was the European Union that had postponed decisions on providing long-range weapons and modern combat aircraft and moving forward with talks on granting Ukraine membership in the European Union.
A component of the Russian army in Ukraine
“Dear colleagues, don’t you feel that our successes have been less than the delay in our joint actions? Unfortunately, this is the case. The Kremlin sees this,” he said.
“We can’t keep delaying getting weapons to our soldiers… We need modern planes. We’ve talked about this. Is there really any rationale for the delay in terms of modern planes?”
Zelensky thanked Poland and Slovakia, now members of NATO and formerly part of the Warsaw Pact, for agreeing to supply him.
Soviet-made MiGs that Ukrainian pilots could use without the need for additional training.
Western allies have expressed strong reservations about sending state-of-the-art Western fighter jets to Ukraine.
Zelensky complained that the European Union did not appear to be rushing to impose more sanctions on Russia.
