While Russia claims to have shot down four ATACMS missiles, long-range weapons recently supplied to Ukraine by the United States, over the annexed Crimean peninsula during the night from Friday to Saturday, the mayor of kyiv Vitali Klitschko defended the need to send other “modern weapons” to the Ukrainian army.
“I would like to thank our partners for anti-aircraft defense and modern equipment, which are not sufficient, even if we feel more protected today than a year ago,” he said on France Inter. Saturday morning. The mayor was questioned about Emmanuel Macron’s idea, which he renewed and clarified on Thursday in an interview with The Economist, of sending troops to Ukraine. Klitschko said to himself “convinced that today it is much more important to provide us with modern weapons.” “We need more weapons,” he added, thanking him for the arms efforts made over the past “year”.
Thursday, despite the controversy created in February, the French head of state insisted: we will have to “ask the question” of sending troops to Ukraine if Moscow comes to “break through the front lines” and kyiv does. request. A reflection that Moscow immediately castigated as “very dangerous”. “Regarding the arrival of foreign contingents, I think that today the question is not as acute,” defended the mayor of the capital, leader of the opposition in Ukraine.
Vitali Klitschko also felt that it was “not the time” to criticize President Volodymyr Zelensky’s way of dealing with the offensive. Ukrainians must, according to him, “remain united” but “the time will come to work on the mistakes that have been made”. “The only criticism I could make despite the war is that we must not lose our democratic gains in this struggle,” warns the mayor of kyiv. “I would like to emphasize this to our president. »
