(Ramstein Air Base) Volodymyr Zelensky again argued Thursday for sending Western troops to Ukraine to “force Russia into peace” at a time when Kyiv fears losing U.S. support with the return of Donald Trump at the White House.
Posted at 7:26 a.m.
Updated at 1:27 p.m.
WG DUNLOP with Pierrick YVON in Berlin
Agence France-Presse
The Ukrainian president participated, with American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in the last meeting of the “contact group” of Kyiv’s military supporters before the inauguration of the Republican billionaire on January 20.
He then left for Rome, where he must meet with the head of the Italian radical right government Giorgia Meloni, both a loyal supporter of Ukraine and a supporter of Donald Trump, whom she visited in Florida.
During the meeting bringing together around fifty countries at the American air base at Ramstein in Germany, the head of the Pentagon called on his allies to “not weaken” in their support for Ukraine, assuring that the United States would remain “ a reliable partner” within NATO.
The return of Donald Trump to the White House will mark the opening of a “new chapter” for Europeans, declared Volodymyr Zelensky.
He says he also 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 .
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.
Lloyd Austin announced Thursday new military aid for Ukraine amounting to around $500 million.
While he acknowledged that the Trump administration “would make its own decisions”, he assured that the United States would “always be a reliable partner in the future”, because their “values” and their “commitment to [leurs] allies and partners do not change.”
“The fight in Ukraine concerns us all,” he said without naming Donald Trump.
PHOTO GENYA SAVILOV, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
A Ukrainian armed forces gunner prepares to fire a French-made Caesar self-propelled howitzer toward Russian positions at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk region, January 6, 2025.
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.
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.
«Arsenal of drones»
Mr. Zelensky urged Kyiv’s allies to “participate even more actively” in the development of an “arsenal of drones” for Ukraine, weapons that have become essential in this war.
A major delivery of 30,000 of these machines was announced to Ramstein by the United Kingdom and Latvia for an amount of nearly 54 million euros (80 million Canadian dollars), co-financed with Denmark, the Netherlands Bas and Sweden.
In the Russian region of Saratov, a fire continued on Thursday for the second consecutive day on an oil site struck the day before by Ukrainian drones, some 500 km from the border between the two countries.
Under President Joe Biden, the United States has been Kyiv’s biggest supporter in its defense against Russia, having provided military aid worth more than $65 billion since February 2022.
Insufficient, however, to allow Ukraine to push back Russian troops in the east, where they have accelerated their progress in recent months.
Moscow claimed Monday the capture of the small mining town of Kurakhové, after a battle lasting almost three months.
And on Thursday, Russian forces managed to establish a bridgehead by crossing the Oskil, a river which until now separated the positions of the two camps, according to a local official.
In this context, Ukraine fears being put under pressure from the new American president-elect to make concessions to Vladimir Putin in future peace negotiations.
Russia is demanding that four Ukrainian regions that it partially controls be ceded to it, in addition to Crimea annexed in 2014, and that Ukraine renounces joining NATO.
