Berlin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at Ramstein air base on Friday with a priority objective that he has not achieved: permission from his main allies for the Ukrainian army to be able to strike military targets located in Russia with Western long-range weapons.
Zelensky’s request did not elicit the expected response from US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who, as a representative of the main arms supplier to Ukraine, chaired the meeting, and who again ruled out this step that kyiv considers essential to turn the war in its favor. “There is no single capability that can be decisive in the campaign,” Austin said, dismissing kyiv’s arguments at the end of the meeting.
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According to the Secretary of Defense, Russia has already moved the fighter jets it uses to bomb Ukraine beyond the range of long-range U.S. missiles such as ATACMS, so permission to use them against Russian territory would not change things. “There are plenty of capabilities that Ukraine has in terms of drones, etc., to address those targets,” the Washington representative said.
New aid packages
Although he did not achieve the qualitative leap he sought in military support from his partners, Zelensky did obtain from his first face-to-face participation in the Ramstein meeting new commitments for additional assistance in defense of some of his main partners.
The US Secretary of Defense himself announced a $250 million aid package that includes ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), tanks, and 155- and 105-millimeter artillery shells. This new package also includes Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor missiles, Stinger surface-to-air missiles, small arms ammunition and demolition equipment, as well as mine-sweeping armored vehicles, M113 personnel carriers, patrol boats, and Bradley tanks. This is the sixty-fifth package of material from the Department of Defense reserves since August 2021.
In the same vein, Germany has pledged to deliver to kyiv a shipment of weapons valued at 150 million euros, which will reinforce the Ukrainian Army with twelve Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzer launchers, which will be delivered between this year and the next.
Spain was represented at the meeting by Defence Minister Margarita Robles, who announced the immediate transfer to Ukraine of a complete HAWK battery, which includes six missile launchers already in use in neighbouring Poland.
In addition, the UK will provide kyiv with an additional £162 million (€192 million) supply of military aid, including 650 Light Multi-Purpose Missile (LMM) systems.
Zelensky calls for speedy shipments
The Ukrainian president once again thanked his partners for their assistance to his country, but stressed that the aid packages approved must reach the front as soon as possible in order to have their effect on the battlefield.
“It is crucial that all weapons from the support packages finally reach the combat brigades,” the Ukrainian head of state said at the opening of the meeting in Ramstein. Ukraine has complained of delays in the materialization of the defense assistance consignments approved by the allies.
In this regard, Zelensky explained that Ukrainian troops are working “with minimal weapons” and noted that Ukraine needs “more weapons to expel Russian forces” from its territory and, in particular, from the eastern region of Donetsk, where Russian forces are concentrating their greatest efforts and are gradually gaining ground. The Ukrainian president called for increased pressure on Russia to force Moscow to end the war, something that, according to Zelensky, is possible to achieve this autumn.
The conditions for this, listed by the Kiev leader, include, according to him, the possibility of Ukraine neutralizing Russian air strikes by neutralizing the constant harassment of Russian aircraft at source with Western long-range weapons. However, the United States and other allies of Ukraine have made it clear once again that they will not allow Ukraine to carry out such attacks with their weapons.
