World

Ukraine presses for long-range strike support, US announces more aid

2024.09.06 06:07

By Phil Stewart and Sabine Siebold

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Western allies on Friday to ignore Moscow’s “red lines” and allow Kyiv to use long-range weapons for strikes on Russian territory, as Washington pledged another $250 million in weaponry for Kyiv.

Zelenskiy made his first appearance at a U.S.-hosted gathering of Ukraine’s allies at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, and sought to present the long-range strike options as another way to pressure Russia to end its 2-1/2-year-old invasion.

He spoke at a high-risk moment for Ukrainian forces, which launched a surprise offensive into Russia’s Kursk region even as Russian forces are laser-focused on seizing the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, a key logistics hub for Kyiv’s war effort.

“We need to have this long-range capability not only on the occupied territory of Ukraine, but also on Russian territory, yes, so that Russia is motivated to seek peace,” Zelenskiy said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pointed to the Kursk offensive as an example of how Ukraine was working to seize the battlefield initiative. “The Kremlin’s army of aggression is now on the defensive on its own turf,” Austin said.

Still, Austin’s remarks appeared more focused on the broader effort to sustain Ukraine’s campaign to repel Russian forces from its territory, including an announcement of another $250 million in security assistance.

“Putin’s malice runs deep. Moscow is continuing its offensive in the east of Ukraine, especially around Pokrovsk,” Austin said.

“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is repositioning his troops in Kursk. And the Kremlin continues to bombard Ukraine’s cities and to target Ukraine’s civilians.”

Zelenskiy is expected to travel to the U.S. this month and hopes to present a “victory plan” to President Joe Biden. Still, with the war grinding on and the Kursk incursion having failed so far to divert Russian forces from inside Ukraine, it is unclear whether the advance into Russian territory will pay off.

© Reuters. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, September 6, 2024. REUTERS/Heiko Becker

Russian forces, which control 18% of Ukraine, have been gradually advancing in the east since the failure of Kyiv’s 2023 counter-offensive to achieve a major breakthrough.

The Kremlin has said conditions for peace talks with Ukraine do not now exist. But Putin has named China, India and Brazil as potential mediators and repeated his view that an initial deal reached in the first weeks of the war at talks in Istanbul, which was never implemented, could serve as a basis for talks.



Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 96,848.95 2.03%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,299.51 4.88%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.11%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 245.64 5.94%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 645.37 4.26%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.35 13.87%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.409168 12.10%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999454 0.17%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.980725 11.59%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,301.87 4.69%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.20328 8.50%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 39.66 7.38%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.50839 10.41%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 5.95 2.13%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000025 10.34%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,930.31 3.99%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 96,565.87 1.53%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.59 5.00%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 16.52 5.70%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 487.71 10.00%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,297.03 4.89%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.25 10.44%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000019 11.66%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.71 0.92%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.25 2.13%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 94.04 8.79%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 11.82 8.76%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.34 4.06%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,491.15 3.88%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.140704 6.79%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.08%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 10.68 7.92%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.184032 9.63%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.537201 6.85%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 27.72 9.67%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.20%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.38 7.48%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.147474 8.41%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.43 0.47%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 495.29 8.56%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.40 1.22%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999886 0.19%
celestia
Celestia (TIA) $ 7.90 22.86%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.813741 6.79%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000044 14.34%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.66 3.82%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.36 2.04%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.040189 8.61%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.35 0.88%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 52.51 2.30%