Volodymyr Zelensky again pleaded Thursday for sending Western troops to Ukraine to “force Russia into peace” at a time when Kyiv fears losing U.S. support with Donald Trump’s return home. White.
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The inauguration of the Republican billionaire on January 20 will mark the opening of a “new chapter” for Europeans, declared the Ukrainian president during a meeting of his country’s allies in Germany.
He says he sees it as a “period of opportunities”, even if Donald Trump displays his skepticism about the billions in aid spent by Washington to support Kyiv against the Russian invasion launched almost three years ago, on February 24, 2022.
This change of era means that “we will have to cooperate even more, rely even more on each other and achieve even greater results together”, insisted Volodymyr Zelensky before the representatives of around fifty countries, under the aegis from the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.
The deployment of Western troops in Ukraine, a proposal which arouses strong reservations in several European states, is “one of the best instruments” to “force Russia into peace”, insisted the Ukrainian head of state.
Last meeting
Among the ideas explored by European chancelleries and Washington is that of setting up a military contingent in Ukraine to ensure the maintenance of a hypothetical ceasefire.
The meeting of the “contact group” of Kyiv partners at Ramstein, an American air base not far from Frankfurt, is the last for the head of the Pentagon.
On this occasion, Lloyd Austin announced new military aid for Ukraine amounting to around $500 million (485 million euros).
This “includes additional missiles for Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense, more ammunition,” particularly for air-to-ground weapons, “and other equipment to support the Ukrainian F-16s,” he explained.
Donald Trump has often criticized the aid provided by the United States to Ukraine and has assured that he can resolve the conflict in “24 hours” without ever detailing his method.
-Without naming Joe Biden’s successor, the Secretary of Defense said Thursday: “the fight in Ukraine concerns us all.” “If Putin swallows Ukraine, his appetite will only grow.”
The EU is “ready to take over” to lead military support to Ukraine in the event of American disengagement, affirmed the head of EU diplomacy Kaja Kallas, while saying she was “safe” that Washington would continue its effort.
“Drone arsenal”
Mr. Zelensky called on Kyiv’s allies to “participate even more actively” in the development of an “arsenal of drones” for Ukraine, devices that have become essential in this war.
Under President Joe Biden, the United States has been Kyiv’s biggest supporter in its defense against Russia, providing military aid worth more than $65 billion (€63 billion). ) since February 2022. Germany comes in second place with 28 billion euros.
Insufficient, however, to give a decisive advantage to Ukraine, which is struggling to repel Russian troops, particularly in the eastern part of its territory.
Moscow claimed Monday the capture of the small mining town of Kurakhové, in eastern Ukraine, after a battle lasting almost three months.
For its part, the Ukrainian army announced on Tuesday that it was carrying out “combat operations” in the Russian border region of Kursk, without revealing the objective, while Russia is talking about a new Ukrainian offensive in this strategic area where Kyiv had already taken the initiative in August.
But the sequence remains clearly unfavorable for Ukraine: the Russian army has already seized around 20% of its territory and is accelerating its progress in its eastern part in recent months.
For weeks, speculation has been rife about the conditions for future peace negotiations. Ukraine fears being put under pressure from the newly elected American president to make concessions to Vladimir Putin.
Moscow is demanding that kyiv cede four regions partially in Russian hands, in addition to Crimea annexed in 2014, and renounces joining NATO. Unacceptable conditions for Volodymyr Zelensky.
