KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for billions more in US aid to strengthen Kyiv's defence capabilities, during a meeting with lawmakers from Washington, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
"I am convinced that Congress will make the decision to support Ukraine with the necessary aid. This will strengthen our defence," Zelensky said in Kyiv yesterday evening (Feb 9).
He published a video of the conversation with members of the US House of Representatives on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter. The House has been holding up the aid, with former president Donald Trump telling Republicans that he does not want them to pass the aid, whose passage has been tied in with US immigration legislation.
"We cannot allow the spread of war and Russian evil," said Zelensky.
His comments came as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in Washington speaking to US President Joe Biden about Ukraine funding.
Ukraine is dependent on allies, in particular the US, for military funding and supplies. It wants an expansion of the air defence system with US Patriot systems and cooperation in the production of modern drones and equipment for electronic warfare.
In his evening video message, Zelensky also spoke of the need for long-range weapons — "especially ATACMS with the 300 km range, for which, unfortunately, there is still no decision."
Ukraine has been demanding for ATACMS missiles from manufacturer Lockheed Martin from Washington for some time.
Kyiv is also demanding for German Taurus cruise missiles, which can destroy bunkers and protected command posts up to 500 kilometres (km) away. But there are concerns that both weapon systems could also be used to attack targets in Russia.
The longer-range weapons also include the Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, which Kyiv has received from the UK and France. — Bernama
Keywords: Ukraine, defence, US, weapons, request