The leaders of Germany, France and Italy, all criticized in the past by Kyiv for support viewed as too cautious, visited Ukraine on Thursday, June 16, in a display of solidarity with a country pleading for weapons to fend off Russia’s invasion.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked the visiting Europeans in a social media post for their “solidarity with our country and people”. But hours earlier he had told his countrymen in a nightly video address: “Every day, I struggle for Ukraine to get the weapons and equipment it needs.” NATO defense ministers were also meeting in Brussels, expected to announce more promises of weapons for Kyiv. US President Joe Biden pledged $1 billion worth of new aid on Wednesday, including anti-ship rocket systems, artillery rockets and rounds for howitzers.Scholz, Macron, and Draghi all say they are strong supporters of Ukraine who have taken practical steps to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy and find weapons to help Kyiv.
After Moscow launched its “special military operation” claiming its aim was to disarm and “denazify” its neighbor, Ukraine repelled an armored assault on Kyiv in March. difficult because the Russians are pulling more and more weapons into the city, and trying to storm it from several directions,” Sievierodonetsk mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said on Thursday.