Germany on Monday said European countries should send heavy weapons and more military equipment to Ukraine, amid fears that Russia will soon intensify attacks in the eastern Donbas region.
“Ukraine needs further military support to defend itself,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters, ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg, according to Anadolu Agency.
“It is clear that Ukraine needs further military equipment, especially heavy weapons. Now we need creativity and pragmatism, it’s not the time for excuses,” she stressed, adding that Germany will continue its efforts in close coordination with the allies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on Western nations to increase their arms supplies to the country, with heavy weapons, air defense systems, tanks, and planes.
EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned earlier on Monday that the war is likely to intensify in the coming days.
“The Russian troops are massing on the east to launch an attack in the Donbas. The Ukrainians are very much aware of that. So, I’m afraid in the next days, the war will increase on the Donbas” he told reporters in Luxembourg.
The US Department of Defense, the Pentagon, also announced on Sunday that it was assessing the weapons needed by the Ukrainian military to counter Russia.
The British government has also stated that it is equipping the Ukrainian army with missile systems and armored vehicles in the interests of the West in the face of Russia.
The western countries first pushed Ukraine into offering NATO membership which provoked Russia to start a military campaign in the eastern European country with the aim of demilitarizing it. Then the West rushed to help Ukraine to repel the Russian attack. No end is in sight for the conflict in Ukraine any time soon.
KI/FNA14010122000835
Your Comment