BRUSSELS, 19 (EUROPA PRESS) The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on a visit to Ukraine on Thursday defended the European Union’s military support to the country in the midst of Russian military aggression, pointing out that at the moment what the Ukrainian Army needs are battle tanks.
In a speech to the Ukrainian Rada, Michel has assured that the EU-27 are «determined» to help Ukraine win the war on the battlefield. «Three days after the invasion, we formally decided to provide, for the first time in the history of the EU, lethal equipment to a third country,» he recalled.
«Weapons and ammunition had already started to arrive in Ukraine and so far, we have mobilized a total of 11 billion euros in military support,» he stressed before Ukrainian parliamentarians.
At this point, the president of the European Council acknowledged that the coming weeks and months «will be decisive» in the military contest. «You need more. More air defense systems, more missiles and long-range ammunition and, above all, you need tanks. Right now,» he said, in the midst of the debate about sending tanks to Ukraine, which Kiev is demanding in order to continue the fighting against Russia in the Donbas region.
These statements come a day before the meeting at the military base in Ramstein, Germany, of the U.S.-led Contact Group for Ukraine, which will be the occasion to confirm further military support to Kiev.
In this regard, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at a joint press conference, expressed optimism about the possibility of receiving reinforced military support from the 40 countries that are part of the coalition supporting Kiev.
The head of state said he had «positive expectations» about the meeting and pointed out that the future of the war depends on decisions taken at forums such as the one in Ramstein on Friday.
SANCTIONS AGAINST THE RUSSIAN NUCLEAR INDUSTRY Both leaders discussed how to continue the pressure on Moscow with the application of new sanctions. On this, the former Belgian prime minister has stated that the ninth round of sanctions «is not the end» and has insisted on coordination work with Africa, Asia, China and Latin America to support Ukraine.
Zelenski for his part has directly targeted the Russian nuclear industry and those sectors and organizations that help develop missiles for the Russian Army. «I believe that the tenth package of sanctions will be more effective than the previous ones, it is time to sanction the nuclear sector,» he said.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
