Half of the Western weapons promised to Ukraine are delivered late, regretted Sunday February 25 the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Roustem Oumerov.

“At the moment, a commitment does not equal delivery, 50% of [these] commitments are not delivered on time,” the minister said at a forum dedicated to the second anniversary of the invasion Russian from Ukraine.

Because of these delays, “we are losing people, we are losing territories,” he added.

The Ukrainian army, faced with an extremely difficult situation on the front, has just withdrawn from the fortress town of Avdiïvka (East) after months of tough fighting, citing a lack of men and ammunition.

And Russia, confident despite the heavy human cost of the war, pushes ever harder on the southern and eastern fronts, without however obtaining a major breakthrough.

Calls from Volodymyr Zelensky

Western allies, whose support is essential for kyiv, have been reluctant in recent months to validate new budgetary envelopes.

Aid worth $60 billion is blocked in the American Congress, mired in political divisions between Republicans and Democrats, and that from the European Union has fallen behind schedule, even though it was finally validated in February.

Despite these worrying signals, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said he was convinced that the United States "will not abandon" kyiv to Russia and will ultimately approve the aid.

Read alsoAid to Ukraine: despite “politician” blockages, “Westerners remain mobilized”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly urged his Western allies in recent days to deliver military aid "on time", demanding in particular ammunition, more air defense systems and combat planes.

"You know very well what we need to protect our skies, to strengthen our land army, what we need to sustain and continue our successes at sea, and you know very well that we need this on time, and we are counting on you,” Voldymyr Zelensky said Saturday during a virtual G7 meeting, the second anniversary of the Russian invasion.

The Ukrainian president also estimated that delays in arms deliveries contributed to the failure of Kiev's counter-offensive in the summer of 2023. "Last year, during the counter-offensive, we had a lot very useful things, many very important things, but not all of them arrived on time,” he explained on Friday.

The head of German diplomacy, Annalena Baerbock, visiting southern Ukraine, said that we should not "minimize this aid [from Ukraine's allies] as being in vain".

“It saves lives every day,” she insisted from the city of Mykolaiv, insisting on the fact that we must “continue to provide it”.

The day before, however, she had recognized that Ukraine lacked weapons to defend itself, particularly long-range ones.

kyiv has long requested Berlin to send Taurus missiles, one of the most modern and effective weapons of the German Air Force.

Strikes continue on Ukrainian territory, targeted daily by Russian missiles and drones.

During the night from Saturday to Sunday, a Russian attack on Kostiantynivka, in eastern Ukraine, left one person injured and damaged numerous civilian buildings, including a train station, businesses and residential buildings, according to the national police.

In Nikopol, in the south of the country, a Russian drone dropped explosives on a car, killing the 57-year-old man inside, said the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serguii Lyssak.

With AFP

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