On Friday 6 September, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada), Ruslan Stefanchuk, called for increased military support for Ukraine.
“We need more weapons to drive Russian forces off our land and especially in the Donetsk region”, explained Mr Zelensky at a meeting of Ukraine’s international supporters in Ramstein (Germany). In his view, the world has enough air defence systems to ensure that “Russian terror does not have results”.
He also reiterated his call to be able to use the long-range weapons supplied by his partners “not only on the occupied territory of Ukraine but also on the Russia territory”.
Several of Kyiv’s allies have announced new financial support or military equipment. The United States is to release a further $250 million in aid, the United Kingdom has announced a €192 million contract for 650 light multi-role short-range missiles, and Germany is to send twelve Type 2000 howitzers to Ukraine, six of them this year and the rest in 2025.
From Verona, for the G7 meeting of Presidents of Parliaments, Mr Stefanchuk highlighted the “extreme need for ongoing technical and military assistance and macro-financial support, as well as assistance in the energy sector”. “Another important priority is air defence systems, we must finally close the skies over Ukraine”, he added. Mr Stefanchuk also stressed his country’s need for tactical and anti-aircraft missiles and other munitions systems. “We are waiting for decisions on the supply of F16s and other fighters, and we are counting on an acceleration of the pilot training process”, the Ukrainian official also explained.
The President of the Verkhovna Rada also called for Western authorisation for Kyiv to use the weapons supplied “without conditions or restrictions”, and for NATO countries neighbouring Ukraine to shoot down “enemy” missiles reaching Ukraine’s western borders.
From Oslo, the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, once again said that Ukraine needed increased military support. He called on “all the Allies to continue their vital support, particularly in this difficult phase of the war”.
Support from parliaments around the world. In Verona, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said that interparliamentary cooperation was “more crucial than ever”. She recalled that the day after Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, she had written to 160 parliaments on every continent, in February 2022, to rally in support of Ukraine’s democratic calling. “And I’m proud to say that the exercise was a success”, said Ms Metsola. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)