Zelenskyy asks NATO for more weapons as winter of ‘terror’ nears
Global News
Russia has blamed the West for the war in Ukraine, saying it had no choice but to launch what it calls a "special military operation" there.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday asked NATO allies for more weapons and air defences to tide his country through another wartime winter as it braces for a barrage of Russian attacks on power stations and other infrastructure.
Zelenskyy made his first visit to NATO headquarters since Russia’s invasion last year, at a time when turbulence in the U.S. Congress threatens to disrupt aid for Kyiv and the world’s attention is drawn to another crisis unfolding in Israel.
He made explicit comparisons between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, and said Western military aid was crucial to put Moscow on the backfoot in the war.
“The winter air defence is a significant part of the answer to the question of when this war will end and whether it will end justly for Ukraine,” he said.
“We must win the winter battle against terror and we can win it,” he added at a meeting of defence ministers from NATO and some 20 other countries that give military aid to Ukraine in a U.S.-led forum known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
Reiterating the West’s pledge to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a new US$200 million defence package for Ukraine, including air defence munitions and weapons to counter Russian drones.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Putin was “preparing once again to use winter as a weapon of war” by attacking energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
“We need to prevent that, with more advanced and increased capabilities for air defence, we can make a big difference,” Stoltenberg said.