Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, urged Europe to enhance and speed up shipments of contemporary weapons and impose more stringent sanctions on Russia on Thursday, warning that failure to do so could result in the war dragging on for years.
Zelenskiy said the 27-nation group must act to restrict Russia more than a year after its invasion of Ukraine in a lengthy and acerbic video address to EU leaders, delivered aboard a train.
Although Zelenskiy’s remarks were an unusually outspoken expression of anger, Ukrainian officials have frequently encouraged allies to increase their supply of weaponry.
“The evil may have time to reorganize and get ready for years of war if Europe waits. You have the authority to stop this “Speaking to EU leaders after their meeting with Antonio Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, he stated.
He claimed that the EU was to blame for delaying decisions regarding the provision of long-range weapons, cutting-edge fighter planes, and moving forward with negotiations for Ukraine to become a member of the EU.
“Dear Colleagues, Do You Not Think That Our Joint Actions Have Had More Delays Than Successes? Sadly, that is the situation. The Kremlin is aware of this” added he.
“We require contemporary planes because we cannot keep postponing the delivery of weaponry to our troops. We discussed this. Is there really a good reason why contemporary airplanes are delayed?”
Zelenskiy congratulated Poland and Slovakia for agreeing to provide Ukrainian pilots with Soviet-built MiG aircraft that they can fly without extra training. Both countries are currently members of NATO and were formerly a part of the Warsaw Pact.
Sending modern western fighters to Ukraine has drawn strong opposition from Western allies.
Zelenskiy also objected to the EU’s apparent lack of urgency in imposing new sanctions on Russia.
