Call for more support: Zelensky calls the lack of ammunition deliveries “shameful for Europe”

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Volodymyr Zelenskyj: “It is important to prove this now”

Photo: Ukraine Presidency / Ukrainian Pre / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj urgently called for more military support for his country in a video link at a summit meeting of EU heads of state and government. "Unfortunately, the use of artillery on the front by our soldiers is shameful for Europe in the sense that Europe can do more," he said on Thursday after the text of the speech was published by an EU spokeswoman. "It's important to prove this now."

Ukraine has long been asking the EU for long-range weapons to destroy Russian attackers' supply lines far behind the front lines. Britain and France have already sent their Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) does not want to make the Taurus cruise missiles with a range of 500 kilometers available to the Bundeswehr because he fears that Germany could be drawn into the war.

If there is enough support for Ukraine, it would also act as a deterrent if "this madman orders the expansion of aggression to other European countries," said Zelensky. There are fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin could also attack other NATO members such as Estonia or Lithuania if he wins over Ukraine.

In his evening video address, Zelensky also appealed to the international community to further tighten sanctions against Russia. Russian rockets, for example, often still contain Western components that got to Russia through loopholes, he criticized. "Every Russian terrorist attack indicates that the global sanctions against Putin's system have not been enough so far."

Proceeds from frozen Russian funds should be used

The EU heads of state and government discussed, among other things, further support for Ukraine in Brussels this Thursday. On the first day of their spring summit, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other heads of state and government decided in the evening to push ahead with plans to use interest income from frozen Russian central bank assets.

This year alone, up to three billion euros could be raised. Scholz said the money should be used primarily to buy weapons and ammunition that Ukraine needs for its defense campaign.

The agreed summit declaration on the issue now states that the provision of all necessary military aid will be accelerated. The EU will continue to support Ukraine “for as long as necessary and as intensively as necessary.” Scholz said: "It is still important that we counter the brutal Russian attack by supporting Ukraine."

The Chancellor once again urged the other EU member states to provide even more military aid. »All European states must make a good contribution. “I see noticeable progress there,” he said. He once again pointed out that Germany is Ukraine's largest supporter in the EU, with weapons delivered or already promised worth 28 billion euros.

phw/dpa