Ukraine is in “fast track” talks with its Western allies to obtain long-range missiles and military aircraft to help it fight the Russian invasion, according to a senior Ukrainian government aide.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Ukraine supporters in the West “understand how the war plays out” and the need to supply planes capable of covering the tanks the United States and Germany promised earlier this month.
He told the online video channel “Freedom” that some of Ukraine’s Western partners maintain a “conservative” attitude towards arms deliveries, “due to fear of changes in the international architecture.”
He said: “We have to work with this. We must show (our partners) the real picture of this war.”
“We have to speak reasonably and tell them, for example, ‘This and this will reduce deaths, this will reduce the load on the infrastructure. This will reduce threats to the security of the European continent and keep the war localized. And we are doing it.”
The decision to send tanks to Ukraine was criticized by the Kremlin and by the prime minister of Hungary, which is a member of NATO and the EU.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed last week that Western countries providing weapons and money to help Ukraine in its war have “diverted” into becoming active participants in the conflict.
It has refused to send weapons to neighboring Ukraine and tried to block EU funds for military aid.
President Joe Biden’s announcement that the United States would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine reversed months of arguments from Washington that they were too difficult for Ukrainian troops to operate and maintain.
The US decision convinced German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who had raised concerns about a unilateral move drawing Russia’s ire, to agree to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany’s stocks and allow European countries with tanks to send some. of yours
Amid news of the coordinated effort, Russia bombarded Ukraine with missiles, explosive drones and artillery shells.
The attacks continued on Saturday, when Russian missiles hit the town of Kostyantynivka in the eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province.
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